The Madras High Court has directed the Nagapattinam district collector and four other officials to respond within four weeks in a contempt case over the alleged failure to implement an earlier order concerning repairs to the Thakattur electricity-based irrigation project.
The case was filed by Saravanan, a farmer from Thakattur in Nagapattinam district. His petition said agricultural fields in the village depend on the irrigation project, under which four electric motor pumps were installed 73 years ago. The pumps and canals, however, have not been maintained properly, according to the petition.
The farmer told the court that the area under cultivation had fallen from 1,500 acres to 75 acres over time. After representations were submitted, only one motor pump was replaced, while three other pumps remained pending. The petition also stated that 14 branch canals had not been desilted or maintained.
The matter had previously resulted in a government submission that the three remaining motor pumps would be replaced within six months. The government also told the court that the branch canals would be desilted and their embankments strengthened. The Madras High Court recorded these undertakings and directed that the work be completed within six months in an order issued on January 2.
The latest contempt petition alleged that the earlier order had not been implemented. It sought action under the Contempt of Courts Act against Nagapattinam Collector Praveenkumar, Water Resources Department Executive Engineer Anandan, Assistant Executive Engineer Madhiazhagan, Regional Revenue Officer Sankaranarayanan and Tahsildar Jeyaseelan.
During the hearing, a bench comprising Chief Justice S.A. Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan directed the district collector and the other officials named in the petition to file their responses within four weeks. The direction requires the officials to explain the status of the works and their compliance with the earlier court order.
The dispute places the condition of a decades-old irrigation network before the court as an issue involving both public infrastructure and administrative compliance. The reported reduction in cultivated area, if established, links the condition of the pumps and canals to the viability of farming in the village. The petition also indicates that representations were made to the Chief Minister’s special cell before the contempt proceedings were initiated.
The court’s latest order does not establish the allegations of contempt. The officials have been given four weeks to respond, after which the court will consider their explanations and the status of the promised repairs, canal desilting and embankment-strengthening work.
