Chennai: V. The Leaders organisation president Annamalai has urged the state government to immediately allocate ₹14.98 crore and launch desilting works on a war-footing to protect farmers’ livelihoods.
In a statement, he referred to an announcement made during the Water Resources Department’s grant demand, where the minister said a proposal was under consideration for special desilting of the 2nd and 3rd zone irrigation canals linked to the Tirumoorthy dam in Tiruppur district. The plan covers 1,801.27 km of canals with an estimated cost of ₹14.98 crore.
Annamalai said that despite the proposal being discussed, funds have not yet been released and work has not begun. He noted that farmers staged a sit-in protest at the canal irrigation office on Friday.
He pointed out that around 2 lakh acres depend on this canal irrigation, and warned that without desilting, water may not reach tail-end areas amid drought-like conditions and low rainfall. Since the work would take at least a month after funds are sanctioned, he called for immediate allocation and swift execution of the project.
