Tirupur farmers seek steps to facilitate soil, clay collection from two Tirupur lakes

Tirupur: Farmers from Mudalipalayam panchayat have urged the district administration to include Manickapuram Periyakulam and Manickapuram Chinnakulam on the Tamil Nadu e-District portal to enable them to apply for permission to transport alluvial soil and clay from the water bodies under a state govt scheme.In a petition emailed to the district collector, tahsildar and block development officer, the farmers said the two lakes were not listed in the e-District database, preventing them from submitting applications for soil removal for use in their fields.P Velusamy, president, PAP Water Conservation Association, said Manickapuram Periyakulam (survey field no. 275) and Manickapuram Chinnakulam (survey field no. 203) in Mudalipalayam panchayat together cover around 120 acres, but were left out of the portal listing."When farmers try to apply through the Tamil Nadu e-District portal for permission to transport alluvial soil from water bodies, these two lakes are not shown in the database. As a result, farmers are unable to submit applications and use the scheme," he said.Velusamy said the two lakes were included in the scheme two years ago under the previous govt and claimed at least 100 farmers would benefit if permissions were issued.The farmers urged officials to take immediate steps to add these two lakes to the portal database, so the scheme could be utilized for agriculture and groundwater conservation. They said they would also submit a petition during the grievance redressal meeting scheduled for Monday.