Coimbatore: It seems like the sixty year battle of farmers from Tirupur, Erode and parts of Coimbatore District is finally coming to an end with the state government including the Athikadavu-Avinashi groundwater recharge and drinking water scheme in this year's budget.
Coimbatore: It seems like the sixty year battle of farmers from Tirupur, Erode and parts of Coimbatore District is finally coming to an end with the state government including the Athikadavu-Avinashi groundwater recharge and drinking water scheme in this year's budget.
In the Tamil Nadu budget presented today by the Deputy Chief Minister O.Panneerselvam, an amount of Rs.1000 crore has been allotted for the first phase of Athikadavu-Avinashi project.
During the recent visit of Chief Minister, Edapadi K Palanisamy to the City, he vowed that the project will be completed within 34 months and will come by the end of February 2019. And, also asserted that the project cost has been estimated at Rs.1532 crore. And, the project aims to provide irrigation to drought prone areas in Coimbatore, Tirupur and Erode districts.
As many as 24,468 acres of irrigable areas will be benefited by the scheme, which will also serve as a drinking water source.
Welcoming the move, Dr.D. Prabu, Converner, Federation for Athikadavu-Avinashi groundwater recharge scheme said that the farmers were battling for at least five decades.
"After this delay, the farmers are eagerly expecting a proper execution of the project in a way that has been mentioned in the old detailed project report. With the Chief Minister during his visit promising to add new beneficiaries in the phase two, our only concern is that people who have been fighting for decades should not be left out,” he noted.
The Chief minister during his recent visit had announced that the foundation stone for Athikadavu- Avinashi project will be laid by the end of February. According to experts, with the last date for tender having ended on Jan 23, 2019, one of the two bidders will be selected shortly and the project will be launched as per schedule.
According to the tender specifications, the project will be implemented on Design, Build, Operate and Transfer (DBOT) basis. So, that the successful bidder should deposit 1% of the cost to PWD and should operate and maintain the project for 60 months after its inauguration. The project is scheduled to be fully implemented within 34 months.