Residents and activists have urged the Tiruchi Corporation and the Water Resources Department to take steps to clear water hyacinths that choke the flow in the Uyyakondan canal in the city.
As summer advances, the Uyyakondan canal is choked with water hyacinth, an invasive aquatic plant species that grows in stagnant water. The weed can be seen in full bloom from Kuzhumayi Amman temple to Alwarthoppu in the city limits on the stagnant water. The hyacinth forms thick blanket on the canal and continues to proliferate.
The canal, which takes its flow from the Cauvery, runs for a distance of 71 km from Pettavaithalai to Vazhavanthankottai and irrigates over 32,000 acres. It feeds 36 small and big irrigation tanks in Tiruchi and Thanjavur districts.
