The Farmers Forum of India has urged the State government to allocate funds on priority for execution of the Cauvery-Vaigai-Gundar intra-State river-linking project.
The project seeks to divert surplus flow from the Cauvery tothe water-scarce southern parts of the State by building a canal from the Cauvery to the Vaigai and the Gundar.
In a statement, G. S. Dhanapathy, State general secretary of the forum, said that although the first phase of the work on building the canal for a short stretch of about 10.5 km too was nearing completion, no further allocation had been made. Over the past four years, the project had not moved forward.
Pudukottai was almost entirely dependent on rain and the district had no big industries. Although the district had the largest number of big and small lakes in the district, they were hardly getting any inflows. The inter-linking of rivers would greatly help the district. Hence, the government should allocate funds during the current financial year to take forward the project, Mr. Dhanapathy said.
He also urged the government to remove the eucalyptus trees, a non-native species, raised in the reserve forests in the district by the Tamil Nadu Forest Plantation Corporation as they were “causing severe depletion of ground water.” Instead, native species should be planted to protect the soil fertility and biodiversity, he said.
Published – November 08, 2025 07:33 pm IST
