Kerala government has begun the construction of check dams at 6 places across the Bhavani River in Kerala. The works on the construction of the check dam at Thekuttai has been completed and the Kerala government has increased the pace of work at Manjakandi, another site for check dam construction.
Though the Tamil Nadu government has submitted a petition in the Supreme Court it has been reported that the work on constructing the check dams by the Kerala government are taking place in full swing. In this regard, protests are being held in Coimbatore, Erode and Tirupur districts which depend on the Bhavani River for irrigation and drinking purposes and construction of these check dams will hinder the water supply to these places.
The Bhavani River protest committee yesterday conducted a hunger strike at Sivananda colony in Coimbatore. One of the protestors said “If the Kerala government constructs check dams in Bhavani River Coimbatore, Erode and Tiruppur districts will be severely impacted. Drinking water and the ground water level will decrease in these regions which will adversely affect the livelihood of farmers. Hence, the state and central governments should act upon the matter on an urgent manner and pass orders to stop the construction of the dams.”
Hundreds of people participated in this hunger strike. Severe protests will be hosted in the city with action has not been initiated by the government, said the protestors.