The Hindu               04.01.2014

Family donates well to civic body

This is a contribution that might prove face-saving for the Salem Corporation that struggles to supply enough drinking water to all its 60 Wards.

A family in Ward 50 has donated an 80-foot well to the civic body so that it could improve water supply to the people of a particular locality in the ward. The well was given away in June 2012, but the gesture came to light on Friday, with Minister for Highways and Minor Ports Edappadi K. Palaniswami inaugurating the supply and felicitating the donor family at a function.

Spread over 729 square feet at S.R.M. Thottam in Shanmuga Nagar, the 60-year-old well belongs to the family of S.M. Periyasamy, a farmer who died a few years ago.

The well was lying idle for many years as it could not be maintained after the family sold its agricultural lands.

People then began dumping waste into it, P. Bhaskar, son of Periyasamy, said on Friday. But, the well had never gone dry, even during the harshest of summers.

To ensure that it was put to good use, Mr. Bhaskar’s mother Dhanalakshmi, sisters Agilandeswari and Vasavi and brother P. Sridhar decided to donate the well to the Corporation so that the well water could be provided to the residents in the neighbourhood.

The well was registered in the name of Corporation Commissioner on June 4, 2012 on the condition that water drawn from it would be supplied only to 1,350 families in the area.

Corporation officials said that various works including, desilting, installation of electric motor and construction of walls around the well were carried out at a cost of Rs. 31 lakh in the past one year. An overhead tank with a capacity of one lakh litres was renovated and water from the well would be stored in it.

Residents in the area said that Corporation supplied water once in 15 days and they were forced to fetch water from other areas. They hoped that the well would help overcome the shortage they had been experiencing so long.

It was lying idle for many years after the family sold its agricultural lands.