Coimbatore: After a gap of three years, the three fresh water tanks in west Coimbatore—Narasimpathi, Vedapatti and Nagarajapuram are almost half-full. As a result, farmers in the areas, who had given up cultivation more than a year ago due to drought, are overjoyed. If the tanks get filled after the northeast monsoon, there will be adequate water for farming for another year or two, they said.The three tanks were lying barren for three years and it was difficult to even recognise them as waterbodies. Thanks to the unrelenting efforts of non-governmental organisations, volunteers and the government in desilting the tanks and strengthening bunds, they now have water.Besides getting filled with rainwater, the tanks get filled when water is released through the Chitra Chavady Canal. All the freshwater tanks are interlinked. Once a tank gets filled, water flows to the next."The Perur Tank also has water after a period of two years," said N Shankar, a farmer from Vedapatti. "With all the tanks being desilted and cleared of weeds and water hyacinth, there is more storage space for water in them," he said.Farmers in the area said groundwater level is likely to increase soon in the region. "We expect groundwater to increase over the next fortnight or so," said K Mahalingam, another farmer."The rains would have been more beneficial if we had crops. Due to the drought, none of us had cultivated any crops. But, we can start cultivation for the upcoming year since groundwater level will increase in the area," K Mahalingam, a farmer, said.Shankar, who usually cultivates sugarcane and banana, had stopped farming since last summer due to the lack of water. "The tanks are now half-full. If we have a successful northeast monsoon, they will get full and groundwater will get recharged enough to stand another year of inadequate rains," he said.

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