: In a breather to Tamil Nadu, which has been vehemently opposing the Kerala government’s proposal to construct a dam in the Attapadi valley across the Siruvani river, the Centre has decided to keep in abeyance the recommendations of the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) to grant Standard Terms of Reference for the project.
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change took the decision to keep the recommendations of the Committee in abeyance “till the references filed in the Supreme Court against the order of Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal are settled or get a positive consent for the project from the government of Tamil Nadu.”
An official release from the Tamil Nadu government issued on Wednesday quoted a communication from the Centre conveying its decision over the project. The release added that the Centre’s decision followed the “constant efforts” taken by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in this regard.
She has been raising this issue with the Centre ever since reports over the proposal to construct a dam across the Siruvani by Kerala appeared in the media in 2012, the release said, and recalled the several letters sent by the Chief Minister to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In June 2013, the Centre informed the Tamil Nadu government that the Kerala government has been asked to get the consent of all States involved in the project and then from the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal. During its 96th meeting in August this year, the EAC had recommended grant of Standard Terms of Reference for Kerala’s project even without obtaining the consent from Tamil Nadu on the ground that the State had not responded to letters from the Centre.
Following this, Ms. Jayalalithaa wrote to Mr. Modi stating that these letters were never received by the State. She also urged him to intervene and revoke the EAC’s decision. Another letter reiterating Tamil Nadu’s position over the issue was sent by the Chief Secretary on August 30.
A special resolution asserting the State’s stand on the issue was unanimously passed in the State Legislative Assembly on September 2. On the same day, she wrote to Mr. Modi highlighting the resolution and urged him to shelve the dam project.
Meanwhile, the pro-dam lobby in Kerala, involving local politicians and top officials of the Irrigation Department in Kerala, is said to have been taken aback by the Centre’s latest decision.
