ERODE: More than 100 farmers from the Lower Bhavani irrigation area have demanded equal distribution of irrigation water for the three canal schemes — Lower Bhavani, Thadapalli–Arakkankottai, and Kalingarayan — which draw water from the Bhavanisagar dam in Erode district.The Bhavanisagar dam facilitates irrigation in Erode, Tirupur and Karur districts, enabling cultivation of sugarcane, paddy, turmeric, banana, and coconut. It also serves as a vital drinking water source for lakhs of people.Farmers have condemned the existing schedule of water release, under which Thadapalli–Arakkankottai canal receives water in April, Kalingarayan canal in June, and Lower Bhavani canal only in August. They asserted that this discriminatory practice has caused repeated crop failures in the Lower Bhavani region, with eight cycles of paddy and sixteen cycles of pulses lost in recent years. At present, the Lower Bhavani area is facing acute drought and drinking water scarcity.The farmers demanded that the water resources department allocate water without bias, based on acreage, and release irrigation water simultaneously to all three canal schemes in accordance with tribunal guidelines.V Nallasamy, leader of the Lower Bhavani Irrigation Farmers’ Association, said, “We will no longer accept delayed and discriminatory water release. Our agricultural fields have suffered enough. The district administration must ensure equal and timely distribution so that all three irrigation schemes benefit fairly.”
