CHENNAI: When indiscriminate drawing of groundwater increases over-exploited revenue blocks in the state, the comptroller and auditor general of India has pulled up the Tamil Nadu government for its “ill-planned” execution of the interlinking of river projects, coupled with delay in completion of the two sanctioned inter-linking of river projects – Tamirabarani, Karumeniyar and Nambiyar river project, and Cauvery-Agniyar-South Vellar-Manimuthar-Vaigai-Gundar river project, and non-sanctioning of the remaining six identified projects.
This despite the fact that the state water policy,1994 and11th five-year plan document raised water as a “serious limiting factor”foragriculturalgrowth and aimed at augmentation of usable water resources through interlinking of the river basins in the state.
“Due to ill-planned execution of the project, coupled with delay in completion of the two sanctioned interlinking of river projects and non-sanctioning of the remaining six identified projects, the intended objectives of providing irrigation facilities to water deficit areas, improvement of groundwater table and arresting sea water intrusion remained unachieved,” the country’s top auditor said in a report tabled in the assembly on Thursday.
The state identified eight river interlinking projects to improve groundwater table, but only sanctioned only two projects for execution.
The CAG said Tamirabarani project was not completed even seven years after the targeted date of completion, mainly owing to deficient field investigation and defective planning in assessment of adequate land.
Only 21 of the 72 flood canal construction packages have been completed and those stretches are not geographically contiguous.
The actual covered area was 8,229 hectares during 2015-16 and 4,485 hectares during 2016-17 as againstthetargeted area of 23,040 hectares.
Sea water intrusion study by thePWDin thetargeted areas of Sathankulam block in Tuticorin district and Tirunelveliblockin Tirunelveli district showed that water level had gone below the mean sea level, reaching the danger zone of sea water intrusion.
“Groundwater depleted by 6.11m in 60% of the wells of the coastal areas of Tuticorin district in 2017 as compared to 2009,” the CAG said, quoting the study of the groundwater division of the PWD in 2017.Therewas anincreasein projectcostby 48%(₹177.3 crore) from the original ₹369 crore.
On the linking of Cauvery-Agniyar-South Vellar-Manimuthar-Vaigai-Gundar rivers, the state could complete only the barrage work at ₹248.6 crore using the state funds.