In an attempt that has drawn wide spread criticism, State Cooperatives Minister Sellur K. Raju launched a pilot project at Vaigai reservoir in Madurai by floating thermacol sheets. The sheets, thus spread out on the water surface was meant to arrest water evaporation from the Vaigai dam, the storage level of which has touched a low point.

In what is seen as futile exercise coracle operators in the presence of the Minister Sellur K. Raju and District Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao have spread out thermacol sheets. But within hours all the sheets got piled up on the shores as it got washed away due to high velocity winds.

The State Public Works Department has set aside Rs10 lakh for the experiment which came in for criticism from many quarters as to its efficacy in arresting evaporation, as the most of the thermacol sheets were swept away to the shores owing to the wind.

Critics termed it a futile exercise and a drain on public money. They argued that this is not a tried and tested method to arrest evaporation.

But experts told Covai Post that the sheets could prevent direct exposure of water to the sun and prevent evaporation to a great extent as the sheets could serve as insulators .

“Even the thermacol floated did not give 100 per cent result, it can surely prevent some evaporation. But the high velocity wind has to be taken into account and the sheets need to secured to prevent them from getting washed away,” Dr. S. Panneerselvam, Professor and Head of Agro Climate Research Centre, Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, said.

The District Collector defended the measure saying, “The whole exercise is being carried out only on an experimental basis. Factors like the wind velocity, size of sheets and their ability to arrest evaporation loss would be studied. We have alternative plans to float plastic balls and plates to arrest evaporation as Vaigai dam is a major drinking water resource for Madurai city and Andipatti town.”

But farmer and activist K Jeevanantham said, “Tamil Nadu is reeling under unforeseen drought conditions and the state machinery is clueless and experimenting with such ideas. The Government should have instead launched water conservation measures such as renovation of ponds and tanks and helped saved the water during floods that wrecked havoc in the state.”