District|Tamil Nadu|Tirumanimuttar sub-basin
Salem district
99% of the irrigated farmland is watered from wells (Season and Crop Report 2024-25), 13 of 14 taluks already draw more groundwater than recharges, and 90.9% of households are recorded with a tap, with the gap sitting in the blocks without canal water, Valapady and Thalaivasal.
Read as of 2026-09-06, from 385 Gram Panchayats in 20 blocks, 381 of them with a brief that cleared the evidence floor.
1,19,742 ha net irrigated: canals 0.7%, tanks 0%, tube and bore wells 11.3%, open wells 88%, other sources 0%.
District stage of extraction 147.5%, assessed over-exploited. Assessed per revenue taluk, not per block or Panchayat.
6,19,904 connections against 6,81,715 households in 381 Panchayats.
Type a name, a block or an LGD code; all 385 are listed. Press Enter to open the first match, or browse by block further down.
What the district runs on
Irrigation from the district tables of the Season and Crop Report 2024-25, with the Census 2011 village pattern beneath it as the block-level baseline; drinking water from the sources JJM records today. A Panchayat without a measure lowers that measure’s denominator rather than counting as a zero.
- Canals0.7%(866 ha)
- Tanks0.0%(0 ha)
- Tube and bore wells11.3%(13,496 ha)
- Open wells88.0%(1,05,380 ha)
- Other sources0.0%(0 ha)
Season and Crop Report 2024-25, Table III-B, the district total: gross 1,78,004 ha with 58,263 ha irrigated more than once (intensity 1.49).
- Canals3.0%(2,105 ha)
- Wells96.6%(67,794 ha)
- Tanks0.4%(281 ha)
- Other sources0.0%(0 ha)
Census 2011 village tables, covering 265 of 385 Panchayats with a land record. Kept beneath the current reading because it is the only served source with a block gradient.
- Ground Water77.9%(8,400)
- Surface Water22.0%(2,368)
- Others0.1%(11)
- Rain Water0.0%(5)
JJM, read 2026-09-01. Commonest source types: Deep Tubewell (7,976), Treated Surface Water (1,831), River (517), Open Well (412).
77.9% of the 10,784 drinking-water sources JJM records here draw on groundwater (7,976 of them deep tubewells), against 2,368 on surface water.
The Mettur dependence
Canal water reaches only 3.0% of irrigated farmland (Idappady, Sankari and Gangavalli); the Mettur release is a local question here, not a district one.
Groundwater by taluk
IN-GRES assesses revenue taluks, not blocks or Panchayats. These are the units the district is actually assessed in, and the headroom reading is written from them.
IN-GRES 2024-2025 puts total groundwater availability across the 14 taluks at 47,531 ham a year, 20,771 ham of it rainfall recharge, with 9,732 ham (20.5%) left for future use. Of the 14 taluks, 13 over-exploited and 1 safe. The district as a whole is assessed over-exploited at 147.5% of extraction. Headroom sits mostly in Mettur (1,760 ham) and is thinnest in Salem West (59 ham).
| Taluk | Stage of extraction | Category | Rainfall recharge (ham) | Total availability (ham) | Left for future use (ham) | Rainfall (mm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thalaivasal | 228.6% | over-exploited | 1,702 | 4,753 | 446 | 877 |
| Gangavalli | 192.5% | over-exploited | 1,289 | 3,880 | 739 | 760 |
| Salem West | 172.3% | over-exploited | 598 | 1,111 | 59 | 946 |
| Attur | 167.3% | over-exploited | 1,452 | 4,238 | 1,083 | 937 |
| Valapady | 155.2% | over-exploited | 1,733 | 3,742 | 761 | 849 |
| Salem | 151.1% | over-exploited | 1,452 | 3,186 | 538 | 955 |
| Salem South | 145.5% | over-exploited | 702 | 1,474 | 157 | 952 |
| Sankari | 141.1% | over-exploited | 1,829 | 4,339 | 362 | 802 |
| Edappady | 133.0% | over-exploited | 1,617 | 3,576 | 623 | 793 |
| Kadayampatti | 121.6% | over-exploited | 1,510 | 2,880 | 479 | 917 |
| Mettur | 119.0% | over-exploited | 2,826 | 6,591 | 1,760 | 783 |
| Peddanayakkanpalayam | 114.7% | over-exploited | 1,466 | 3,733 | 1,354 | 871 |
| Omalur | 108.9% | over-exploited | 1,689 | 3,095 | 625 | 926 |
| Yercaud | 14.2% | safe | 905 | 931 | 746 | 1584 |
IN-GRES 2024-2025. The stage of extraction is annual draft as a share of total availability; above 100 percent, more is drawn each year than the taluk is assessed to have. Rainfall recharge is one component of that availability. The year is the hydrological-year label, not an edition date. 384 of 385 Panchayats inherit their containing taluk's category by spatial intersection, as containing-area context rather than a measurement of the place; 1 is deferred rather than guessed.
Blocks compared
The same measures per block. Where a district average hides a gradient, this is where it shows, and the findings are written before the table rather than left for the reader to find.
Canal share runs from 27.2% in Idappady to 0.0% in Ayothiyapattinam, Kadayaampatti, Konganapuram, Mac. Choultry, Mecheri, Nangavalli, Omalur, Panamarathupatti, Salem, Tharamangalam, Valapady and Veerapandy; wells fill the difference, 100.0% of irrigated farmland at the bottom of the gradient against 72.8% at the top.
The tap gap sits on the blocks without canal water: Valapady (69.0% of households, 0.0% canal), Thalaivasal (78.5% of households, 0.1% canal), Gangavalli (80.2% of households, 8.8% canal), Mecheri (80.6% of households, 0.0% canal), Peddanaickenpalayam (80.9% of households, 1.9% canal), Veerapandy (81.1% of households, 0.0% canal), Attur (85.7% of households, 0.2% canal), Yercaud (87.5% of households, not stated canal), Ayothiyapattinam (89.6% of households, 0.0% canal), Salem (93.6% of households, 0.0% canal), Tharamangalam (93.7% of households, 0.0% canal), Panamarathupatti (95.4% of households, 0.0% canal), Omalur (96.6% of households, 0.0% canal) and Kadayaampatti (98.8% of households, 0.0% canal). Every block with canal water records 100.0% or more.
6 of 20 blocks report exactly 100.0% of households with a tap. A figure that exact across 6,81,715 households is a reporting convention, connections entered equal to households, and is read here as reported complete rather than measured.
| Drinking water, JJM | Farmland irrigation, Census 2011 | Groundwater, IN-GRES | Water bodies, TNGIS | Water-quality testing, JJM | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Block | Panchayats | Households with a tap | Irrigated area | from canals | from wells | from tanks | Taluk category, projected | Mapped | Untested 90+ d | Longest since tested |
| Attur | 20 | 85.7% | 8,449 ha | 0.2% | 99.6% | 0.3% | over-exploited(20 of 20) | 66 | 0 | 62 d |
| Ayothiyapattinam | 32 | 89.6% | 3,070 ha | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.0% | over-exploited(32 of 32) | 79 | 0 | 42 d |
| Gangavalli | 14 | 80.2% | 8,524 ha | 8.8% | 90.7% | 0.6% | over-exploited(14 of 14) | 52 | 0 | 87 d |
| Idappady | 10 | 100.0% | 2,717 ha | 27.2% | 72.8% | 0.0% | over-exploited(10 of 10) | 50 | 0 | 39 d |
| Kadayaampatti | 17 | 98.8% | 3,668 ha | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.0% | over-exploited(17 of 17) | 102 | 0 | 33 d |
| Kolathur | 14 | 100.0% | 8,708 ha | 2.2% | 97.8% | 0.0% | over-exploited(14 of 14) | 42 | 0 | 51 d |
| Konganapuram | 9 | 100.0% | 2,161 ha | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.0% | over-exploited(9 of 9) | 68 | 0 | 53 d |
| Mac. Choultry | 12 | 100.0% | 721 ha | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.0% | over-exploited(12 of 12) | 85 | 1 | 115 d |
| Mecheri | 17 | 80.6% | 1,760 ha | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.0% | over-exploited(17 of 17) | 46 | 0 | 51 d |
| Nangavalli | 9 | 100.0% | 1,357 ha | 0.0% | 99.7% | 0.3% | over-exploited(9 of 9) | 18 | 0 | 58 d |
| Omalur | 33 | 96.6% | 3,054 ha | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.0% | over-exploited(33 of 33) | 98 | 0 | 65 d |
| Panamarathupatti | 20 | 95.4% | 1,415 ha | 0.0% | 91.4% | 8.6% | over-exploited(20 of 20) | 44 | 0 | 69 d |
| Peddanaickenpalayam | 36 | 80.9% | 4,975 ha | 1.9% | 98.1% | 0.0% | over-exploited(36 of 36) | 59 | 1 | 94 d |
| Salem | 14 | 93.6% | 147 ha | 0.0% | 95.7% | 4.3% | over-exploited(14 of 14) | 47 | 0 | 81 d |
| Sankari | 22 | 100.0% | 2,684 ha | 10.3% | 89.7% | 0.0% | over-exploited(22 of 22) | 198 | 0 | 54 d |
| Thalaivasal | 35 | 78.5% | 11,665 ha | 0.1% | 99.1% | 0.7% | over-exploited(35 of 35) | 98 | 0 | 78 d |
| Tharamangalam | 17 | 93.7% | 1,194 ha | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.0% | over-exploited(17 of 17) | 57 | 0 | 47 d |
| Valapady | 20 | 69.0% | 2,362 ha | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.0% | over-exploited(19 of 20) | 26 | 0 | 60 d |
| Veerapandy | 25 | 81.1% | 1,549 ha | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.0% | over-exploited(25 of 25) | 44 | 0 | 74 d |
| Yercaud | 9 | 87.5% | 0 ha | not stated | not stated | not stated | safe(9 of 9) | 20 | 0 | 37 d |
Canal, well and tank figures are shares of the irrigated farmland beside them, not of households and not of drinking water. They come from Census 2011 (Census 2011 release; village reference year 2009) and cover only the 265 Panchayats with a Census land record, so a block with few such records shows a share of a small area. Tap and testing figures are JJM and current at the read date. The talukcategory is the one most of the block’s Panchayats inherit by projection, since blocks and revenue taluks do not nest. Untested counts Panchayats whose most recent water-quality sample is more than 90 days before 2026-09-06; ninety days is the Atlas’s own threshold for calling a series stale, not a statutory testing interval.
Floods and scarcity
Two readings the directory families cannot carry: what the state's own disaster plan says about flood exposure here, and - where the state publishes one - the week's tanker register. Both are the state's documents, quoted and dated, not the Atlas's assessment.
Salem is not among the fourteen coastal districts the state disaster plan rates highly vulnerable; the plan does not classify inland flood exposure district by district, so that is the extent of what it states here, not a rating of safety.
“The 14 coastal Districts, viz., Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Myladuthirai, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari are highly vulnerable and affected frequently by the trough and depression formed in the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean during South-West and North-East monsoon periods.”
Water bodies
The TNGIS all-water-bodies register, joined to each Panchayat by the register's own LGD code rather than by a name match.
In 319 Panchayats; 66 have none in the register. Registered by AED, DOSS, NRSC, TNRD, WRD. Waterspread is the mapped extent, not storage: it says nothing about whether these hold water through the year or when any one of them was last surveyed. Read 2026-09-01.
Polluted river stretches
What CPCB's October 2025 (updated version) report lists for the district. Priority is CPCB's own BOD band on the 2022 and 2023 maximum, I the worst; station BOD for 2024 is the report's follow-up annexure. Each row says how it was joined to the district: a place CPCB prints, or the river's course.
Source: CPCB, Polluted River Stretches for Restoration of Water Quality, October 2025 (updated version) (cpcb.gov.in). The report is cited by annexure serial and PDF page; it is not mirrored here.
| River | Stretch or location, as CPCB prints it | Priority | Max BOD 2022 and 2023 (mg/L) | Stations, BOD 2024 | Since 2018 | Joined to this district by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sarabanga | EDAPADI AT SALEM, D/S OF TEXTILE DYEING INDUSTRIES EFFLUENT (Annexure III B, no. 122, PDF p. 98) | Priority I | 36 | 1, BOD 80 | same class as 2018 (Priority I) | a place CPCB prints: 'SALEM' is the district name |
| Thirumanimutharu | RIVER THIRUMANIMUTHARU AT SALEM, D/S OF SAGO & TEXTILE DYING INDUSTRIES (Annexure III B, no. 123, PDF p. 98) | Priority I | 60 | 1, BOD 120 | same class as 2018 (Priority I) | a place CPCB prints: 'SALEM' is the district name |
| Vasista | THULUKANNUR AT SALEM, D/S OF SAGO INDUSRIES EFFLUENT (Annexure III B, no. 125, PDF p. 98) | Priority I | 120 | 1, BOD 160 | same class as 2018 (Priority I) | a place CPCB prints: 'SALEM' is the district name |
Not yet on file for this district
Named gaps, kept short: each becomes a section of its own when its source is wired.
- District Environment Plan. Every district files one on the NGT template, with a water balance in it; the plan for Salem has not been acquired, and this stays a named gap rather than an estimate until it is.
Find a Gram Panchayat
Every one of the 385 LGD-coded Gram Panchayats is listed. A place shows a water profile only where its evidence cleared the floor (identity, population and drinking-water service established); the rest are directory records, kept so they can be found and reviewed.
385 Gram Panchayats. 381 water profile, 4 directory record.
| 74, Krishnapuram | Gangavalli | 227599 | Water profile |
| 95, Belur | Gangavalli | 227594 | Water profile |
| A. N. Mangalam | Ayothiyapattinam | 227561 | Water profile |
| A.Karadipatty | Peddanaickenpalayam | 227748 | Water profile |
| A.Komarapalayam | Peddanaickenpalayam | 227749 | Water profile |
| A.Pudur | Mac. Choultry | 227657 | Water profile |
| Aachankuttapatti | Ayothiyapattinam | 227562 | Water profile |
| Adaiyur | Idappady | 227607 | Water profile |
| Adhikaripatti | Ayothiyapattinam | 227563 | Water profile |
| Agr.Thalaiyur | Mac. Choultry | 227658 | Water profile |
| Akkarapalayam | Veerapandy | 227892 | Water profile |
| Akkichettipalayam | Attur | 227541 | Water profile |
| Aladipatti | Ayothiyapattinam | 227564 | Water profile |
| Alagusamudram | Tharamangalam | 227855 | Water profile |
| Alamarathupatti | Kolathur | 227634 | Water profile |
| Alathur | Sankari | 227798 | Water profile |
| Amanikondalampatti | Panamarathupatti | 227728 | Water profile |
| Amaragundhi | Tharamangalam | 227856 | Water profile |
| Amaram | Mecheri | 227669 | Water profile |
| Ammampalayam | Attur | 227542 | Water profile |
| Ammapalayam | Panamarathupatti | 227729 | Water profile |
| Anaikuttapatti | Veerapandy | 227893 | Water profile |
| Anaiyampatty | Gangavalli | 227593 | Water profile |
| Andipatti | Salem | 227784 | Water profile |
| Annathanapatti | Sankari | 227799 | Water profile |
| Anupur | Ayothiyapattinam | 227565 | Water profile |
| Appamasamudram | Attur | 227543 | Water profile |
| Aragalur | Thalaivasal | 227820 | Water profile |
| Aranganoor | Mecheri | 227670 | Water profile |
| Arasanatham | Attur | 227544 | Water profile |
| Arathi Agraharam | Thalaivasal | 227821 | Water profile |
| Arigoundampatty | Veerapandy | 227894 | Water profile |
| Ariyampatti | Tharamangalam | 227857 | Water profile |
| Ariyapalayam | Peddanaickenpalayam | 227750 | Water profile |
| Arurpatti | Tharamangalam | 227858 | Water profile |
| Athanurpatti | Valapady | 227872 | Water profile |
| Avadathur | Nangavalli | 227686 | Water profile |
| Avaniperur East | Idappady | 227608 | Water profile |
| Ayyamperumampatti | Salem | 227785 | Water profile |
| B.Karadipatty | Peddanaickenpalayam | 227751 | Water profile |
The district on a map
Every Panchayat with a mapped boundary is plotted from the centre of its own TNGIS polygon, not from a hand-entered coordinate. The marker is the Panchayat, not a settlement.
385 of 385 Panchayats have a mapped boundary. The polygons themselves are withheld pending the TNGIS licence reply.
How current these figures are
Not everything on this page is from the same year, and the gap is large. What each figure describes is listed separately from when the Atlas last read it, straight from each artifact's own record.
| Figures | Describes | Last read | Produced | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panchayat list and codes | 2021-03-11 (PDF CreationDate) | 2026-09-01 | 2026-09-01 | TNRD LGD directory, cross-checked against the current TNRD master on the retrieval date. |
| Drinking-water service, sources, testing | current at 2026-09-02 | 2026-09-02 | 2026-09-02 | Jal Jeevan Mission citizen corner: habitations, tap connections, sources, sample rows. |
| Irrigation by source, district | Season and Crop Report 2024-25 | 2026-09-01 | 2026-09-01 | DES Season and Crop Report Table III-B: net area irrigated per source at district grain. The block gradient below stays Census 2011 until a taluk-grain source is wired. |
| Land, irrigation and seasonal sources | Census 2011 release; village reference year 2009 | 2026-09-01 | 2026-09-01 | Census 2011 village tables, the newest village-level irrigation enumeration served here. The Season and Crop Report district mix above is the current reading; the 2017-18 Minor Irrigation Census (wells and tanks by village) is not wired yet. |
| Groundwater assessment | 2024-2025 | 2026-09-02 | 2026-09-02 | IN-GRES, assessed per revenue taluk. The year is the hydrological-year label. |
| Groundwater projected to Panchayats | 2024-2025 | 2026-09-01 | 2026-09-01 | Each Panchayat inherits its containing taluk's category by spatial intersection. |
| Rainfall | 2026-08-03 to 2026-09-02 | 2026-09-02 | 2026-09-02 | Open-Meteo reanalysis at a grid point inside each Panchayat, not a gauge. |
| Water bodies | as mapped; the register carries no survey date | 2026-09-01 | 2026-09-01 | TNGIS all-water-bodies register, counts and areas only. |
| Panchayat briefs | 2026-09-06 | 2026-09-06 | 2026-09-06 | Generated from the families above; a place without identity, population and service stays directory-only. |
| Flood classification | Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Plan 2023, 2023-03-18 | 2026-09-02 | 2026-09-02 | The plan's own flood classification, quoted with its page; the Atlas classifies nothing itself. A revised plan replaces this line wholesale. |
The land, irrigation and seasonal-source figures are the oldest thing here by a wide margin. India’s 2021 census did not take place, so Census 2011 remains the most recent village-level enumeration and there is no newer source of the same granularity to replace it with. Those figures are kept under capabilities named historical, and the current-crop capability is left empty rather than answered with a 2009 number.