Title: Need to implement Watershed Management Scheme in drought prone Tiruvannamalai and Dharmpuri Districts of Tamil Nadu. – Laid.
(TIRUPPATTUR): The fall in ground water level is an acute problem in many Districts of the country especially the drought prone Districts of Tamil Nadu, particularly in Tiruvannamalai and Dharmapuri districts. Water has to be drawn from more than 300 feet deep borewells. Such water with flouride contamination leads to bone diseases and even cancer. Such rain-dependent areas can augment ground water level only by way of effective watershed management. For instance, in my Tiruvannamalai Parliamentary constituency. Thakarakuppam and Thekkupattu panchayats in Natrampalli Panchayat Union could note get watersheds due to paucity of funds even after the completion of estimates and feasibility studies. Nearby towns like Vaniyampadi and Ambur have also been affected by the dip in groundwater level. Hence, I urge upon the Union Rural Development Ministry to evolve a scheme to ensure implementation of Watershed Management in drought-hit fund-starved backward areas that are affected by drinking water scarcity and flouride related diseases. This may kindly be taken up urgently and a pilot scheme may be taken up in my Tiruppattur constituency with the allocation of funds for the same.