Farmers in Tirupur district have announced an indefinite hunger strike from October 29, demanding irrigation water for about 1,500 acres at the tail-end of the Parambikulam–Aliyar Project’s Vellakovil branch canal. The protest will be held at the premises of the PAP Vellakovil Branch Canal (Kangayam–Vellakovil) Water Conservation Association on Karur Road at Bhagavathipalayam Section in Veeranampalayam village, Kangayam.
The association said the affected land forms part of a 48,000-acre command area served by the Vellakovil branch canal. The command is divided into four zones of 12,000 acres each, with water generally supplied to two zones during a year-long cycle, covering the periods from January to June and June to December, according to P Jegadeeshwaran, the association’s treasurer.
Jegadeeshwaran said the Kangayam–Vellakovil stretch represents one-eighth of the ayacut irrigated from Thirumoorthy dam, but water does not reach the tail-end areas consistently. Farmers allege that only around 10,500 acres receive irrigation, while approximately 1,500 acres are repeatedly left out.
The farmers further claimed that the drawal per rotation has increased from about 1 TMC to nearly 2.5 TMC, without ensuring complete supply to the Vellakovil branch canal. The Water Resources Department has cited theft and unaccounted losses as reasons for the shortfall, according to the association. Farmers, however, maintain that water distribution from Coimbatore through Tirupur towards the Karur border must follow the applicable allocation rules.
Association president P Velusamy said farmers had pursued protests and legal remedies for more than five years over the issue. The association also claimed, citing official PAP data, that some branch canals were drawing between 30% and 60% more than their sanctioned limits. These claims were reported by the Times of India and were not independently assessed in the supplied report.
The association has sought an increase in the water level at the Vellakovil branch canal’s zero point from 4.5 feet to 4.8 feet. It has also demanded a seven-day rotational supply at each sluice gate, stating that a similar system is followed in other PAP command areas. Farmers are seeking enforcement of the PAP Act, 20/1993, and directions issued by the Madras High Court.
A meeting at the Kangayam Water Resources Department sub-divisional office on Friday ended without what the association described as a clear assurance. Following the meeting, the farmers decided to proceed with the hunger strike from October 29.
The Parambikulam–Aliyar Project supplies irrigation water to about 4.25 lakh acres across Coimbatore and Tirupur, while Thirumoorthy dam irrigates approximately 3.77 lakh acres, according to the report. The proposed protest now places the unresolved question of tail-end distribution within this wider irrigation network back before the Water Resources Department and district authorities.
