Chennai, August 9
The Southern Districts Farmers Association has welcomed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to implement the Godavari-Cauvery-Gundar river-linking project in its entirety, saying the scheme could provide a lasting solution to water scarcity in the drought-prone southern districts.
Association functionary R. Ram Pandian said farmers were encouraged by the Chief Minister’s intervention and hoped the Centre would revive the original proposal to extend the river-linking network through the Cauvery, Vaigai and Gundar basins.
Vijay had written to the Prime Minister seeking his intervention and requesting directions to the Union government to implement the project in its original form.
The National Water Development Agency has proposed linking the Godavari, Pennar, Palar and Vellar rivers. Farmers, however, argue that the present proposal would largely benefit northern Tamil Nadu since the link is planned to terminate before reaching the Cauvery.
Such an alignment would leave the water-starved southern districts without the benefits envisaged under the original river-linking plan, Pandian said.
The Chief Minister has urged the Centre to restore the earlier proposal under which the network would extend through the Cauvery, Vaigai and Gundar rivers, bringing water to irrigation systems in the Gundar basin.
Pandian said implementation of the complete project could provide a dependable irrigation source for lakhs of acres of farmland across Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Virudhunagar and Thoothukudi districts.
Farmers in these areas have been facing persistent water shortages and drought-like conditions, affecting cultivation and agricultural livelihoods. Scarcity has also increased pressure on drinking water supplies and made it difficult for farmers to secure sufficient water for livestock.
Pandian said the Chief Minister’s demand that southern Tamil Nadu should receive its rightful share of benefits from the ambitious river-linking project had renewed hopes among farmers for a long-term solution to the region’s recurring water crisis.
