COIMBATORE: A group of farmers who own land in the 13 villages in Velliangadu area, petitioned the district collector stating that the waste water from the city corporation’s water treatment plant in the area, which they were depending on for irrigation, was being monopolised by a few big farmers. They accused the handful of farmers of constructing a water tank and installing pumps right outside the plant to divert most of the water.
The petitioners said the water that is let out flows down a 10 km long stream, irrigating agriculture fields in 13 villages on the way, including Themmarampalayam and Thandiyur to
Salaivembu
. “We are at least 500 to 600 farmers with farm holdings ranging from two to 10 acres, having banana plantations, millets, pulses and coconut trees. Water we got from the stream was adequate for irrigating our fields,” said
Karthik Vijay, a
coconut farmer.
A little over three months ago, water stopped flowing down the stream, the farmers said. “We initially thought that a few factories and brick kilns were diverting the water, but only now have we realised that it is less than 10 farmers who have fitted pumps and built a tank to divert the water just a few metres from the treatment plant,” said the president of a farmer’s association,
S Palanisamy.
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