Water Resources Minister Mathew T. Thomas has written to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam urging him to take steps to release the assured quantity of water under the Parambikulam-Aliyar Project (PAP) agreement, besides ensuring that Tamil Nadu utilises its share from this project only for drinking water purposes and not for irrigation and power generation, especially when downstream areas are facing drought conditions and drinking water shortage.
In his letter, Mr. Thomas said Kerala was entitled to 7.25 tmcft of water at the Manacadvu weir and 12.3 tmcft of water at the Kerala Sholayar dam under the PAP agreement. Tamil Nadu can take water for other purposes only after supplying this quantity of water. In this water year 2016-17, a quantity of 2.655 tmc has only been supplied till December 31 at Manacadvu against the agreed entitlement of 4.530 tmc. This shortfall has affected the Chittoorpuzha valley, a major tributary of the Bharathapuzha, the largest river basin in the State.
He said Tamil Nadu’s continued diversion of water to the Thirumoorthy dam for irrigation purpose was totally against the spirit of the PAP agreement. Kerala had already abandoned the second crop in the Chitturpuzha valley owing to the water shortage.
In addition to this, Tamil Nadu is holding approximately 1 tmc of water in the upper Aliyar and Kadamparai dams for power generation when the lower reaches of the Chitturpuzha valley was facing acute drinking water crisis. “Even by the National Water Policy, drinking water gets first priority and hence holding water for power generation in an extreme drought year like this is against the basic principle of water management,” he said.
The live storage of 4.4 tmc was available in the PAP system. The Minister urged Tamil Nadu to release the entire quantity after meeting its drinking water needs rather than for irrigation and power generation so that the shortfall in Kerala’s entitlement could be made up. Since the quantity of water to be shared is based on actual available storage in reservoirs, it would be totally against natural justice to deviate from the process of natural justice.
