The festival endemic to Tamil Nadu where devotees pay tribute to rivers and water bodies by offering prayers.
Chennai: Aadi Perukku, the monsoon festival celebrated on the 18th day of the Tamil month Aadi, lost its usual fervor on Thursday. The festival endemic to Tamil Nadu where devotees pay tribute to rivers and water bodies by offering prayers was celebrated along the banks of Cauvery starting from Salem to Triuchy.
Though the state public works department (PWD) has been releasing around 2,500 cusecs of water from Mettur since last week, the arid condition and uncontrolled sand mining ensured that there was no run off the water along the delta districts disappointing farmers and public.
According to PWD and weather office sources, Tamil Nadu received its normal amount of rainfall that is due for the current southwest monsoon, but there is no inflow of water into any of the catchment area or reservoirs catering to northern districts of Tamil Nadu including gr-eter Chennai.
“The only respite is that the falls located in the Yelagiri hills in Vellore has come alive and the Nagala forest located in the Tamil Nadu— Andhra border has started recording surface runoff”, said informed PWD source. The only respite for the entire state is that Mettur now has 10 tmc ft of water and this can meet, only the drinking water requirement of western districts. After three spells of the southwest monsoon, the drinking water supply in Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Salem, Dindigul and Kodaikanal has improved.
“Aadi Perukku used to be gala event along the Cauvery banks, starting from Srirangam to Tiruchy suburb, but with no run off water and parts of Tiruchy facing drinking water shortage several families remained indoor without celebrating Aadi Perukku”, said K. Brinda, a biologist with Tiruchy based Biodiversity Conservation Foundation. Musuri, known for large tracts of paddy fields and terrestrial birds, is now dry like a barren land due to the removal of river sand, she added.
