Various farmers associations in the district have expressed concern that Chief Minister M.K. Stalin provided wrong information to the public on the Lower Bhavani Project (LBP) canal ayacut areas and also on the pollution levels in Kalingarayan Canal during his election campaign in Erode on March 31, 2024.
Mr. Stalin addressed a public meeting in Chinniyampalayam, during which he said the LBP Canal helps in irrigating 3 lakh acres, while seepage from the canal benefits another 5 lakh acres. “As per a government order, the total ayacut area of LBP canal is 2.07 lakh acre while through the 34 water harnessing schemes, water benefits an additional 17,000 acre,” said S. Periyasamy, president of Keel Bhavani Murai Neer Pasana Vivasayigal Kootamaippu, a famers’ association. Apart from this, 25,000 acres in the Dharapuram area, the Dharapuram Cut, that are yet to be included in the ayacut area, also get water indirectly, he pointed out, adding: “The statistics given by Mr. Stalin at the meeting were wrong.”
Likewise, Mr. Stalin had also said the extension, renovation and modernisation of the canal project, brought about by the AIADMK government, was strongly objected to by farmers and hence, concrete-lining was dropped and the DMK government had modified the project to renovate only the old masonry and structures. The association’s secretary K.V. Ponnaiyan clarified that the original project had only aimed at renovating the old structures and not concrete-lining the entire canal.
