Ungampalayam
Encyclopedia
Location
Ungampalayam is a villageVillage
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
.
The village is located in the Tamilnadu, Karur District, Karur Paramathi Block, Thurkatchi
Panchayat. Village is located 46 Km from Erode
Erode
Erode is a city, a municipal corporation and the headquarters of Erode district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.It is situated at the center of the South Indian Peninsula, about southwest from the state capital Chennai and on the banks of the rivers Cauvery and Bhavani, between 11° 19.5"...
, 30 Km from Karur
Karur
Karur is a large town and a municipality in Karur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu situated on the banks of Amaravati. Karur district was formed on 30 September 1995 by trifurcating Tiruchirappalli district. It is the administrative headquarters of Karur District. Karur has a very long...
, 9 Km from Kodumudi
Kodumudi
Kodumudi is a panchayat town in Erode district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.- Geography :Kodumudi is located at . It has an average elevation of 144 metres ....
and 16 Km from Muthur
Muthur
Muthur is a panchayat town in Tirupur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.-Demographics: India census, Muthur had a population of 10,063. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Muthur has an average literacy rate of 59%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: male...
. The village is on the banks of Noyyal River.
The village is named after Ungaan - Stone Carver (Ottan), who had been living there before people move from Varatu Karai near the Village.
History
The Kongu vellalarKongu Vellalar
Gounders also known as Kongu Vellalars are Kshatriyas native to the western region of Tamil Nadu known as Kongu Nadu. They were known as a noble, feudal and land owning caste of Tamil Nadu from the Sangam age...
s are very studious people, who migrated from the lush, fertile Cauvery delta in Tanjore and Trichy to the wild forests upriver Cauvery. The Chola kingdom which flourished in the 9th century till 13th century, need to expand its land of cultivation and being wealthy to undertake such endowers.
The delta becomes crowded forcing enterprising people to expand to forest and built villages. They move up river and by their sheer hard work and persistence had survived and created villages in the Kongu region, and they are called Kongu Vellalars ("Farmers of Kongu").
The expansion stated in near 10th century continued as the families and clan expands till 700 years later. In 1700s Maniyan clan people from Mohanur
Mohanur
Mohanur is a Town panchayat in Namakkal district of Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The Mohanur Panchyat Union includes Mohanur Town,Pettapalayam, Manappalli, Kumarapalayam, Sengappalli, Ediyar, Perumandam Palayam, Ariyur, Aniyapuram, Valayapatti...
, Namakkal Dist (With deity of Chellandi amman and Navaladi Karuppusamy) in need of resources migrated again from there. They travelled along the River Cauvery and reached River Noyyal, which is Cauvery's tributary.
They got setteled near Noyyal River around Thurkatchi - "Reign of Goddess Durga" (Wrongly spelt as Thukkatchi, "Reign of Worry"). They constructed clan deity in Kattampatti for Chellandi amman and Sekkadi Periyasamy. The deity Sekkadi Periyasamy is been installed by a Vaaniyar (Oil miller) sage, so called Sekkadi (Oil pressing place).
These people are called as a new section of Maniyans as Thurkatchi (Thukkatchi) Maniyan Kootam
Maniyan kootam
Maniyan kootam is a clan of the Kongu Vellalars , farmer caste of Tamilnadu in South India. In a clan every relation is a brother or sister, marriage within clan is not desired. In the Kongu Vellalar there are initially 60 clans, now expanded to 148 clans...
, having clan temple in Kattampatti (2 km). They belong to third section of Maniyan kootam
Maniyan kootam
Maniyan kootam is a clan of the Kongu Vellalars , farmer caste of Tamilnadu in South India. In a clan every relation is a brother or sister, marriage within clan is not desired. In the Kongu Vellalar there are initially 60 clans, now expanded to 148 clans...
, apart from Mohanur Maniyan and Muthur Maniyan.
The Village
The village has deity of Bhagavathi amman and Kuppayi amman for prosperity and protection. The village once spotted with river shore of sand and Neem forest with a fresh fish and clean wonderful river. Now it has become sorrow and dumping ground of Industrial effluent and sewages.The village now accommodate about approximately 50 families. People now started living near the farm, building houses there. East side of the village people of unprivileged live in Ungampalayam Muralai. The village is on the south banks of Noyyal river, thus fall under Karur District (Noyyal river is the border).
The village has close relationship with villages around there like Kattur, Karungalkadu, Thukachi, Kattampatti, NariKattuValasu, Puthupalayam, Pillapalayam, Ramanathapuram, Anjur, Valayapalayam, ChinnaValayaPalayam, NallaSelliPalayam, Murgampalayam to mention a few surrounding villages. Bore well water from Pillapalyam is supplied to Ungampalayam, for folks livehood.
Irrigation
The agriculture activities are carried out with water from canal from a small dam on the Noyyal river in Karvazhi Village (5 Km) called Aathupalayam DamAathupalayam Dam
The Aathupalayam Dam is situated in Karvazhi village of K.Paramathi taluk in Karur district. The parched aycut area has not been receiving supplies as the Aathupalayam reservoir had become a storage tank for Orathuppalayam polluted water flowing down the River Noyyal over the past few years.The...
, which will supply water for 3-5 months. After that people should depend on the Well for the agriculture. About half the year the water scarcity is there. In year 2005 - 08, drought like condition existed due to rain scarcity, crop and Coconut trees dried away, and most of them died.
Due to of the release of stored effluent from the Orathuppalayam Dam
Orathuppalayam Dam
The Noyyal Orathuppalayam Dam and Reservoir, also called Orathuppalayam Dam, is located on the Noyyal River between Chennimalai and Kangayam in Tirupur District, Tamil Nadu, South India. The dam is situated north of Kangayam and east of Tirupur....
, Tirupur District even the small fresh water available from a seasonal river are not stored in the Aathupalayam dam
Aathupalayam Dam
The Aathupalayam Dam is situated in Karvazhi village of K.Paramathi taluk in Karur district. The parched aycut area has not been receiving supplies as the Aathupalayam reservoir had become a storage tank for Orathuppalayam polluted water flowing down the River Noyyal over the past few years.The...
.
Ecological Deterioration
The sewages of Coimbatore and TirupurTirupur
Tiruppur pronounced as is a textile city located on the banks of Noyyal River. It is also called Dollar city. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tiruppur district. It forms a part of the ancient Kongu Nadu region of South India, where its people were the first to establish territorial...
and Industrial effluent from Dyeing factories and Textile processing plant of Triupur and Coimbatore changed the ecology of the river.
The river water now running mostly as coloured and even cattle are not to be let drink the water, if came to contact with skin it causes inflammation and allergies to humans. People have to depend on the Cauvery water line for drinking and utility water. Before 1990s people used to swim and this used to be fertile and lush area then.
Now the river is a large Sewage and banks are full of the Prosopis juliflora
Prosopis juliflora
Prosopis juliflora is a shrub or small tree native to Mexico, South America and the Caribbean. It has become established as a weed in Asia, Australia and elsewhere. Its uses include forage, wood and environmental management. The tree grows to a height of up to and has a trunk with a diameter of...
or Seemai karuvel or Vilayati babul an invasive thorn bush. The village doesn't command a Tar road and transport is headache to the people living there.
Livelihood Deterioration
Begin surrounded by districts of TirupurTirupur district
Tiruppur District is a district of the Indian state Tamil Nadu, formed in October 2008. This district is formed with these taluks from Coimbatore district and Erode district: Tirupur, Avinashi, Palladam, Dharapuram, Kangeyam, Madathukulam and Udumalpet. Tirupur district is a well-developed and...
, Erode
Erode District
Erode District is a western district of the state of Tamil Nadu, India, with Erode as its headquarters. Until the year 1996, Erode district was called as Periyar District....
where the road and electricity facilities are well developed, this K.Paramathi block of Karur district look as undernourished desert. Even the bridges built on Noyyal in Anjur (5 Km) or Kattampatti (2.5 Km) or Thukachi (1 Km) are done by people of the village, with a minor contribution from the government.
So with no proper livelihood educated people move to towns, farmers shift to near by villages with better transport. And young people are moving to Finance business in Kerala and Karnataka. As an irony people go to work in Tirupur, which is the source of the deterioration. From land holding Farmers to Wage workers in mills of Tirupur, thus feeding the market of cheap labor.
On the southwest side a new quarry is started in 2007 called SVBM. These people has created some 2-3 Km tar road for their use, there by beneficial to people. There are still problem of the dust sweeping through houses and lands of the villagers due to the quarry.
Noyyal Tears
According to the state Pollution Control Board (PCB) the accumulated pollution loads between 1980-2000 are as follows:| Total Dissolved Substances (TDS) | 23.54 lakh tonnes |
|---|---|
| Chlorides | 13.11 lakh tones |
| Sulphates | 1.25 lakh tones |
| Total Solid Substances (TSS) | 0.97 lakh tonnes |
| Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) | 0.90 lakh tones |
| Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) | 0.29 lakh tones |
| Oil & Grease | 0.01 lakh tonnes |
A study, called 'Biological Monitoring of Genotoxic Hazards Related to Textile Dyeing Industries,' by the PSG College of Arts and Science in Coimbatore, showed that tadpoles in Noyyal had significant DNA damage and that fish organs were highly contaminated. Groundwater samples they collected revealed amines, which are capable of inducing DNA strand breaks in humans. Another report from the University of Madras (Chennai) notes that the Noyyal is dead, because of inflow of industrial effluents.
A report by the Linkoping University in Sweden notes that till the mid-90s, "Approximately 90 million litres of water was used and discharged from the dyeing and bleaching industry in Tirupur. Virtually all of this was let out without treatment." While Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETP) have been set up since - treating only a fraction of the 100,000 million litres daily - the damage has been done.
Ungampalayam Map
See also
- List of reservoirs and dams in India
- KodumanalKodumanalKodumanal is a village located in the Erode district in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was once a flourishing ancient trade city known as Kodumanam, as inscribed in Patittrupathu of Sangam Literature. The place is a important Archaeological Site, under the control of State...
- Noyyal riverNoyyal RiverThe Noyyal River rises from the Vellingiri hills in the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu, southeastern India and drains into the Kaveri River. The river's basin is long and wide and covers a total area of . Cultivated land in the basin amounts to while the population density is 120 people per km² ...
- Orathuppalayam DamOrathuppalayam DamThe Noyyal Orathuppalayam Dam and Reservoir, also called Orathuppalayam Dam, is located on the Noyyal River between Chennimalai and Kangayam in Tirupur District, Tamil Nadu, South India. The dam is situated north of Kangayam and east of Tirupur....
- Aathupalayam DamAathupalayam DamThe Aathupalayam Dam is situated in Karvazhi village of K.Paramathi taluk in Karur district. The parched aycut area has not been receiving supplies as the Aathupalayam reservoir had become a storage tank for Orathuppalayam polluted water flowing down the River Noyyal over the past few years.The...
- Maniyan kootamManiyan kootamManiyan kootam is a clan of the Kongu Vellalars , farmer caste of Tamilnadu in South India. In a clan every relation is a brother or sister, marriage within clan is not desired. In the Kongu Vellalar there are initially 60 clans, now expanded to 148 clans...