Construction work on 1,400 farm ponds began in Tirupattur district on Saturday. It will act as water storage pits during the monsoon and recharge groundwater in the arid regions of the district.
Officials of District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), which executes the work, said the district was facing severe water shortage every year until 2021, when the district received good rainfall, filling up water bodies in the district. However, as a long-standing measure, the district administration has decided to create a large number of ponds, covering 208 villages in all four taluks in 30 days to help recharge ground water in the district during monsoon permanently.
Women workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) have been assigned for the job. “Each farm pond will cost at least two lakh and take 670 days to form. Identified government lands and private farms will have these new ponds in equal numbers,” K. Selvarasu, Project Director, DRDA (Tirupattur), told The Hindu.
Accompanied by Collector D. Bhaskara Pandian, Minister for Public Works and Highways E.V. Velu, launched the initiative at Kandali panchayat union. Each farm pond is 72 feet long, 32 feet wide and six feet deep with a storage capacity of 3.63 lakh litre of water. In other words, 50.82 crore litre of water can be stored in 1,400 ponds during monsoon. The Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Agriculture and Horticulture departments were roped for the task.
Unlike in government lands, the new farm ponds that are being created in private lands can be also used to grow fish and can provide an alternative income for farmers and private landowners. Catla, Roya and Mithila are the preferred freshwater fish varieties that will be cultivated in these new farm ponds. These fish were chosen for their speedy growth and good taste. These fish varieties can grow more than one kg in three months.
