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.
Stating that it was affecting free flow of water in the canal, residents and activists have urged the officials to remove the hyacinth. The stagnant water and the invasive plant act as a breeding ground for mosquitoes, causing inconvenience to people living along the canal.
According to Manoj Dharmar, an environmentalist, polluting the canal by directly discharging sewage at various points is the main reason for the growth of water hyacinths. “Curbing sewage discharge and periodic removal of aquatic plants will help the free flow of water,” he said.
The Water Resources Department carried out a drive to remove the water hyacinth from Kuzhumayi Amman Temple to Ariyamangalam in October 2023. However, it has grown again.
A senior Corporation official said the water hyacinth was cleared last year but had regrown now. “A drive to weed out the invasive species along the canal would be carried out before the monsoons,” he added.
The department has also planned to renovate the 15-km city stretch of the channel by strengthening the retaining walls, renovating eight check dams, and 120 sluices, and constructing drains to prevent the flow of wastewater.
