Chennai, Jan 24 (IANS): The Tamil Nadu government will file a status report on the release of water from Vaigai dam in Madurai to farmlands in Melur taluk of Madurai district.

This move comes after a directive of the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on the basis of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a farmer.

Farmer B. Stalin in his PIL has drawn the attention of the court to the fact that farmers in Melur taluk were getting water from Periyar dam which reaches Vaigai dam through the Peranai channel and irrigates the farmlands of Melur taluk.

Stalin, who is a resident of Ettimangalam village in Melur taluk, in his PIL said that this water was irrigating the farmlands of Melur taluk spread across 1,15,000 acres and that this water was the lifeline of the farmers in the taluk. He said that water was earlier released continuously for 120 days which was necessary for irrigating the farmlands.

In the PIL Stalin said that the water department officials of Tamil Nadu arbitrarily reduced the number of days of the water release from 120 to 90. He charged that this water was not sufficient and that the farmlands would disappear if water was not provided for 120 days continuously. The farmer said that the present storage capacity of Periyar and Vaigai is enough to release water for 120 days and added that if proper directions were not given to the Tamil Nadu government the farmlands would turn into barren land and would become real estate properties.

The Madurai division bench of the Madras high court comprising of Justices D. Krishna Kumar and R.Vijayakumar directed the state government to provide a status report on the situation within one week.