PUDUKKOTTAI : For the past few years, water has been a major concern in Tamil Nadu. This year, water scarcity left city managers and residents, in many parts of the State, scrambling to meet their daily needs. Civic society has plunged into rainwater harvesting, recharging of ground water resources, reviving local water bodies, often at personal cost.
And yet, in water-stressed Pudukkottai district, the State-run Tamil Nadu Forest Plantation Corporation Limited (TAFCORN) has contributed to water scarcity and, according to reports from government agencies, stopped flow of rainwater to 78 tanks in a single taluk of Arimalam. Aside from the effects on groundwater resources, TAFCORN’s practices have affected agriculture and the environment, according to the district administration and locals. Now, a recent interim order of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has sparked hope among farmers and locals.
Cultivation in the district
TAFCORN, which has a turnover crossing `100 crore each year, manages 71,540.50 hectares of forest lands obtained on lease from the State Forest Department. On this land, it TAFCORN cultivates eucalyptus, cashew, casuarina and other species for commercial purposes. TAFCORN sells 70 per cent of harvested pulpwood to Tamil Nadu News Print and Papers Limited (TNPL), supplying 30 per cent to the private paper industry. It has been cultivating eucalyptus in Pudukkottai district from 1974. The HC in its interim order has barred TAFCORN from planting more eucalyptus saplings.
As of August 2018, TAFCORN has planted eucalyptus saplings over 16,894 hectares of land, mostly in reserve forest areas, which receive the highest amount of rainfall in the district. “Prior to TAFCORN plantations, the reserve forest lands were dense forests and the primary rain catchment areas of the district. When rainfall is received, the water flows through the slopes of the forest and fills thousands of tanks and ponds in the district,” explained GS Dhanapathy, state general secretary, Bharat Krishak Samaj and petitioner in the case.
“The sudden large-scale eucalyptus cultivation in Pudukkottai initially only caused a dip in the average rainfall pattern. But TAFCORN, in the later periods, started building massive trenches and canals in the reserve forest site to maximise the output. These trenches stopped the water flow to the water bodies and deprived farmers of irrigation water. In Pudukkottai, the total cultivable land during the early 1960s was around 3,93,000 hectares. Right now, agriculture is practised roughly only in 1,00,000 hectares. Eucalyptus cultivation and TAFCORN’s trenches have played a major role in the shrinking of farmlands here,” he said.
The two-tier trench system
It is the system of trenches that district officials have found fault with. To ensure rain-water wasn’t ‘wasted’ by flowing downhill, TAFCORN has built two types of trenches, one between each row of trees, and another enclosing the site like a boundary wall.“We started building trenches and mud walls to make sure the saplings received the maximum water. While the first type of trench was a small passage between the trees to let water flow, the second trench was built like a small pond, 15 X 2 square feet and 3 feet deep, for every 100-200 meters. Apart from trenches, we also raised a 2.5 foott-high mud wall around every hectare of saplings, to make sure water did not drift out of the reserve forest,” said a senior TAFCORN official, speaking on the condition of anonymity said.
To estimate the damage caused, the Water Resource Department (WRD), following an order from the District Collector, conducted an inspection. The review report submitted by WRD in September 2017 said, “Upon inspection, it was found that mud-check dams and longitudinal trenches were built around the cultivation site. These trenches stopped the water flowing down and also made sure all the rainwater was retained inside the site of cultivation. Closing the trenches and breaking the mud walls are the only ways to ensure rainwater in the forest reaches the ponds and lakes in the district.”
In the same year, the joint director of agriculture issued an assessment report after reviewing eucalyptus cultivation in Arimalam taluk, stating, “The trenches and mud walls in eucalyptus cultivation sites have stopped water flow to 78 tanks in only the single taluk of Arimalam and this has affected agriculture in at least 877.87 hectares”.
Following various departmental reports, the District Collector ordered TAFCORN to remove the obstructions and allow rainwater to flow naturally. However, TAFCORN did not abide by the order completely and only stopped building new trenches in the cultivation sites, while the old ones remain.
The thirsty plant
The problems associated with large-scale cultivation of eucalyptus have been discussed all over the world. “The eucalyptus tree has the ability to absorb all the water available around it. Also, the waxy nature of its leaves means it takes them longer to decompose after shedding,” explained P Masilamani, Dean, Tamil Nadu Agriculture University. “The eucalyptus trees absorb all available water on the surface of the land and atmosphere. With trees consuming huge amounts of water when cultivated at a large scale, how will people’s livelihood, which depends on the water flowing down from the forest, survive?” asked SCA Manikandan of Iyarkai Nala Vazhvu Sangam.
“Groundwater levels over the past decade have gone as low as 1000 feet in some villages as the canals have not seen water for so many years. How can even bore wells work if all the water is either retained in the forest or absorbed by high-water consuming trees?” he asked. While multiple factors may be at play, data from the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board show that post-monsoon groundwater levels in the district plummeted from 8.6m in January 1992 to 41m in January 2019.
“The only advice given to any farmer is to engage in crop rotation to avoid depletion of soil nutrients. But TAFCORN, for decades now, has been planting only eucalyptus trees in Pudukkottai. How can the soil retain its nutrients? Apart from that, the eucalyptus trees don’t even help the animal species. Animals do not prefer eating eucalyptus leaves due to their scent and waxy nature. What kind of situation is created if even animals cannot live in peace in the reserved forest?” Dhanapathy charged.
Incidentally, on Aug 31, 2018, the directors of TAFCORN passed a resolution to replace single cropping pattern, as it was causing environmental damage. But no changes have been implemented till date on its sites.
Future prospects
While the court’s final verdict is awaited, members of the public, along with the Bharat Krishak Samaj, have been conducting several awareness programmes. Explaining the possible future course of action, Dhanapathy said, “In the judgement scheduled for October, the court will decide whether TAFCORN needs to remove the obstructions or not. If the court orders the removal, then it will be our first victory in reviving agriculture in Pudukkottai. Post that, we plan to ensure that eucalyptus cultivation is removed from the district, and another crop or dense forest is created.”
“We have received an order from the court to not plant any fresh saplings. Future course of action will be decided on what the top management says. Regarding the removal of mud walls or trenches, we have not built any of these new trenches for the past two years. By now the old ones would have closed. We are also committed to making the world a better place,” N Ganesan, regional manager, TAFCORN Pudukkottai.
Root cause
The total area of eucalyptus cultivation in Pudukkottai
16,894 hectares Pudukkottai region
9,466.82 hectares Aranthangi region
7,416.36 hectares