Two public interest litigation petitions have been filed
in the Madras High Court Bench here seeking water release from the
Vaigai dam for irrigation in Madurai.
The
petitioners, advocates S. Thirumeni and S.M.P. Amalan, contended in
their petitions that if water was not released immediately for
irrigation, single crop farmers in Madurai would suffer irreparable
loss. A Division Bench comprising Justices P.N. Prakash and R. Mahadevan
posted the cases to January 2 for further hearing.
In
his petition, Mr. Amalan claimed that single crop farmers in Madurai
required a minimum of 80 days of water supply from the Vaigai reservoir
for successful harvesting.
According to him, due to
poor storage in the reservoir, water was released for the single crop
for 12 days in September. Following protest by farmers, water was
distributed in turn system for the single and double crops. Single crop
farmers got water for 49 days in the turn system, he added.
He
alleged that Water Resources Division of Public Works Department
distributed water for the Cumbum Valley farmers who were ready to plant
the second crop after a successful harvest of the first crop. But the
water distributed to farmers in Melur was not sufficient for harvest of
the first crop. Therefore, it should be released at least for five more
days to the single crop area, Mr. Amalan said.
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