Date:04/12/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/12/04/stories/2007120464080100.htm

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Scanty rainfall hits storage in tanks

S. Ganesan

Agriculture operations in non-delta areas may be affected next year
Only two tanks received inflows to near their full capacity

TIRUCHI: The poor storage position in a majority of irrigation tanks, especially the rain-fed ones, in Tiruchi region has come as a major worry for farmers and water managers.

Though the comfortable storage at the Mettur Reservoir has not posed any major problem this year, the poor storage in tanks could lead to a substantial drop in ground water table and affect agriculture operations in the non-delta areas next year.

Eighty-six out of the 112 rain-fed tanks under the control of the Public Works Department’s Ariyar Division, comprising Tiruchi and Karur districts, are at dead storage level. The division has 98 tanks in Tiruchi district, which recorded a 32 per cent deficit in the normal annual rainfall.

The district received 525 mm of rainfall against the normal of 625 mm till the end of October, Agriculture Department statistics indicate. Just two of the rain-fed tanks, the Alathudayanpatti and Thirunavalur tanks, received good inflows to near their full capacity due to their proximity to the Kollimalai hill ranges. Statistics of the Ariyar Division shows that only two tanks have 75 to 99 per cent storage (of their capacities); two more have 25 to 50 per cent storage.

Twenty-two tanks have less than 25 per cent storage and the rest have dead storage.