Farmers in Erode district have been told there is no water supply available in Bhavanisagar dam for their crops; they now want permission to take soil sediment from the dam to use as fertiliser. File photograph
| Photo Credit: GOVARTHAN M
Former Bhavanisagar MLA P.L. Sundaram has urged the Erode district administration to permit farmers to take soil sediments (vandalman) to use as fertilisers, from the waterspread area of the Bhavanisagar dam, as the water level in the dam is very low.
In an email sent to the District Collector, he said the water level in the dam is less than 46 feet against the full reservoir level of 105 feet, while the storage was 3.47 tmc ft against the capacity of 32.80 tmc ft. Usually, when the storage level is low, farmers are allowed to take soil sediments that are rich in nutrients to serve as fertilisers for their crops. The process also helps to deepen the dam and thereby, would help in the storage of more water, he pointed out. Also, due to the work, hundreds of daily wage workers and drivers get jobs, the former MLA said.
It is learnt that obtaining of this permission has been delayed due to the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) that is in force for the Lok Sabha polls. “The MCC will be in force till June and the monsoon also begins in June,” the email said, and urged the district administration to take steps and permit farmers to take soil sediments from the dam as soon as possible.