A total of 412 waterbodies had been identified in the district to enable farmers to lift alluvial soil, said Collector N. Venkatachalam.
Talking to press persons here on Wednesday he said lifting of the soil from the waterbodies would help farmers enrich their agri-fields and also improve storage capacity of the waterbodies.
Farmers may contact PWD engineers to obtain permission. Permission had already been given 2,300 farmers so far to lift the soil. Priority was given to potters to enhance their livelihood. Each farmer was eligible to lift 25 tractor loads of soil at a time for their own use. They might lift more loads on getting further orders, he added.
Meanwhile, desilting commenced at Udayankulam in Chinnamanur and Kalikulam at Anamalaiyanpatti near Cumbum on Wednesday morning.
Farmers were permitted to lift the soil from 72 waterbodies in Dindigul district.
They might also lift soil from six lakes and the Pappalar reservoir, said Collector T.G. Vinay.
In a press release here on Wednesday, he said farmers could contact PWD Executive Engineer S. Dhanasekar (9788231547) for lifting the soil from six lakes and other waterbodies in Oddanchatram, Gnanavel (9965517343) to lift it from 35 lakes and Palar Porundhalar dam in Palani block, Kannan (9443474615) to lift the soil from nine lakes in Vedasandur, S. Needhipathi (9965533291) to lift it from three lakes in Natham and four lakes in Dindigul and Maheswaran (7094755706) for Kudiraiyaru dam and Saravana Kumar for Kudaganar dam.
