Chennai: With most of the water bodies in Tamil Nadu not reaching their full capacity even during the monsoon season, farmers have demanded the state government to conduct annual desilting to increase storage.

R. Ilangovan and P S. Selvaraj of the Cauvery Delta farmers association, told IANS: “Most of the water bodies in the state have not reached their full capacity even during the heavy rains as desilting is not being done. Anothe major issue is the removal of illegal encroachments on water bodies and government must use a iron hand to remove such encroachments “.

Farmers have also demanded the construction of more check dams to control water flow and conserve soil.