A group of farmers in the Coimbatore-Mettupalayam belt appealed to the district collector on Friday to take more efforts to revive the dried up Kousika river.
They have urged her to arrange for a survey on the path of the waterfall from Kurudi Mountains because they did not find many encroachments and or obstacles in the river's path in the plains.
Office-bearers of the Athikadavu Kousika River Development Association who met the collector requested her to revive the river and join it to the Athikidavu Avinashi water project.
"The river, which begins at Narasimanaickenpalayam flows through Idigarai, Kovilpalayam, Vagarayampalayam, Thekkalur, Tirupur and finally joins the Noyyal River," said the secretary of the association, P K Selvaraj.
"A recent survey done on the river's route by public works department officials showed very minimal encroachments and obstacles," he said.
However, the riverbed has been dry for the past 15-20 years because there are blocks and diversions at the source, say activists.
"To serve many brick kilns in the district, sand across a 50-acre wide area has been mined almost 50 feet deep," said Selvaraj. "So all the water that flows goes and settles in those deep in those mines," he said.
They claimed that there were also many diversions in the route created due to construction of the CRPF camp on the mountain top and for other private people's preferences.
"We want the public works department and forest department to speed up and conduct a survey of the problems in the flow of the river from the source," he stated in the petition.
They have urged her to arrange for a survey on the path of the waterfall from Kurudi Mountains because they did not find many encroachments and or obstacles in the river's path in the plains.
Office-bearers of the Athikadavu Kousika River Development Association who met the collector requested her to revive the river and join it to the Athikidavu Avinashi water project.
"The river, which begins at Narasimanaickenpalayam flows through Idigarai, Kovilpalayam, Vagarayampalayam, Thekkalur, Tirupur and finally joins the Noyyal River," said the secretary of the association, P K Selvaraj.
"A recent survey done on the river's route by public works department officials showed very minimal encroachments and obstacles," he said.
However, the riverbed has been dry for the past 15-20 years because there are blocks and diversions at the source, say activists.
"To serve many brick kilns in the district, sand across a 50-acre wide area has been mined almost 50 feet deep," said Selvaraj. "So all the water that flows goes and settles in those deep in those mines," he said.
They claimed that there were also many diversions in the route created due to construction of the CRPF camp on the mountain top and for other private people's preferences.
"We want the public works department and forest department to speed up and conduct a survey of the problems in the flow of the river from the source," he stated in the petition.