Farmers at Vazhapadi, in Salem district, have turned to borewells to save their crops. Vazhapadi gets its water for drinking and irrigation from the Vashista and Vellaru rivers. The state government constructed two dams across the rivers, the Aanai Maduvu dam at Puzhuthikuttai, which can hold 7.42 million m3 of water, and the Kariakoil dam at Pappanaickenpatty, which has a storage capacity of 5.38 million m3 of water.
Villagers say both rivers have been dry for the past few years. As a result, groundwater levels have dipped. One farmer said: “Hundreds of wells too have gone dry because there is no ground water. We cultivate tomatoes, tapioca, and trees such as areca nut, coconut and banana, which need a regular supply of water.”
Some say that farmers had pinned their hopes on the southwest monsoon in August. “There were no rains in August. Now we are waiting for the northeast monsoon, which is supposed to start in the second week of October.”
