It is sad that Athikadavu-Avinashi Groundwater Recharge Scheme has become a vote gathering scheme for most of the political leaders and not talk about it subsequently with the same enthusiasm till the next elections”, activists involved in the struggle said.
“The project has been conceptualised over 50 years ago. Every time an election is round the corner, be it an Assembly, Parliament or panchayat election, we used to intensify the struggle only because that successive state governments or majority of the political parties in opposition almost never even listen to the concerns of people in the region over the delay in the execution of the scheme, on other occasions”, T. Sathyamoorthy, a lawyer-cum-activist, who is one of those coordinating the struggle for the project, told The Hindu .
People in Avinashi, Perumanallur, Annur, Chennimalai and nearby areas feel that the project is the need of the hour to recharge the depleted groundwater resources in the region.
“At the moment, we need to dig almost 1,500 feet to draw water in areas like Avinashi. If the project gets commissioned, groundwater level will improve significantly which, in turn, save lots of amount on power and also improve the lives of the agrarian community and the residents”, they pointed out.
On Sunday, the indefinite fast observed by 14 activists for the scheme completed a week at Avinashi. In support of them, large number of residents from the nearby areas had been observing relay fast by turns on everyday.
A human chain were formed on Sunday to symbolically express the unity in their demands for quick implementation of the scheme.