Expressing deep concern over Tamil Nadu’s failure to abide by the inter-State river water sharing agreement under the Parambikulam-Aliyar Project (PAP), the government on Thursday said it wanted a review of the pact.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the Assembly that Kerala had been denied its legitimate share of water under the PAP agreement for many years. This year, he said, Tamil Nadu had been diverting water from the Parambikulam dam from August 8, while denying Kerala its legitimate share of water to the Chittur dam. This, he said, had created parched conditions in Palakkad, affecting farmers.
Responding to a submission moved by Chittur MLA K.Krishnankutty, he said the issue had been brought to the attention of the Tamil Nadu government at various levels. “I wrote to my counterpart in Tamil Nadu yesterday (on Thursday) and the Chief Secretaries of the two States also talked to each other on the phone.”
Mr.Vijayan informed the House that the issue had been taken up with the Union Ministry of Water Resources also.
“In April this year, I had sought a discussion with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister to resolve the outstanding issues and review the PAP agreement. They are yet to respond to the proposal,” he said.
Maintaining that the government did not view this as an emotional issue, he said it hoped to find an amicable solution through discussions.
In his submission, Mr. Krishnankutty said the brazen violation of the PAP pact by Tamil Nadu would create a drinking water crisis in Kerala. He alleged that a section of officials in Kerala were turning a blind eye to the illegal construction of check-dams in the PAP river basin and the installation of pipes below the dead storage level in the Siruvani dam.
“Many of the drinking water schemes in the Bharathapuzha river will dry up by November, leaving the whole area parched,” he said.
