Plea to desilt all waterbodies and irrigation channels before northeast monsoon

The Manithaneya Jananayaga Katchi has appealed to the district administration to desilt all irrigation channels and the water bodies before the onset of northeast monsoon this year to store the surplus water going waste into the sea.

In a petition submitted to District Collector Anand Mohan on Monday, the outfit’s Tirunelveli district secretary Nellai Nizam said the northeast monsoon which would start in the month of October, would usually bring good rainfall to Tirunelveli district every year, particularly to the Papanasam, Servalar and Manimuthar Dams that decide the fate of agricultural operations in this region.

Hence, the Collector should instruct the officials of Department of Water Resources to desilt all systemised irrigation tanks, rain-fed tanks, associated irrigation channels and other water bodies before the start of the monsoon to store the rainwater which would otherwise go waste into the sea.

Moreover, the canals bringing water to the systemized and non-systemized water bodies should also be desilted, he said.

Since the VST Junction in Melapalayam on Palayamkottai – Ambasamudram Highway is witnessing traffic jam everyday, a traffic island should be created there to avert this problem and consequent accidents.

The liquor shop on North Mount Road near Nainarkulam is causing various problems to the public, particularly women and the children, besides other law and order issues. Hence, this liquor shop should be shifted to isolated place, the petitioner said.

Tirunelveli Corporation councillor of ward 52 S. Nithiya Balaiah submitted a petition seeking a road to connect the gasifier crematorium in his ward and the Nagercoil highway. He said a narrow road traversing Xavier Colony of his ward is now connecting the crematorium and Nagercoil highway.

Since the people throw flowers and garlands from the hearse on the road often land inside the houses located on this narrow stretch, it creates instant unrest in this residential area. Hence, the Collector should take steps for forming a road to connect the crematorium and the Nagercoil highway so that the funeral processions would be peaceful, he said.

A group of villagers submitted petition seeking the desilting of Vellaalankulam, a rain-fed tank under the control of Water Resources Organisation in Palayamkottai providing succour to over 350 acres of land. Since this water body and the canals bringing rainwater to the tank had not been desilted for several decades, the district administration desilt the canals also, they said.