The government move to release water stored in the Malampuzha reservoir for industrial use, ignoring local concerns over drinking water and irrigation requirements, is facing a new hurdle with the Irrigation Department giving in writing that it has no excess water in the reservoir to release for commercial purposes.
A letter, drafted by Irrigation executive engineer S. Padmakumar and submitted to the Kerala Water Authority (KWA), states clearly that releasing an additional 15 mld (million litres per day) of water to the industrial park of the Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Kinfra) at Kanjikode, near here, would affect drinking water and irrigation needs of the Palakkad municipality and seven grama panchayats surrounding it. The reservoir would turn empty if such a huge amount of water was released on daily basis, the letter said.
The objection on the part of the Irrigation Department assumes significance against the backdrop of the State government’s revival of an old multicrore pipeline project to take additional waters from Malampuzha to Kanjikode to meet the needs of manufacturing units inside the industrial park. A mega food park coming up close to the industrial park also requires huge amounts of water. At present, the dam is releasing 10 mld of water to the park daily.
‘No study undertaken’
According to Boban Mattumantha and G. Sivarajan, leaders of the local-level action group against the ₹33.3-crore pipeline project, the documents they obtained under the the Right to Information Act prove that the controversial pipeline project was initiated without making any environmental impact study or proper research on water availability and sharing.
Meanwhile, the KWA has sought police help to offload pipes and construction materials meant for the project in the area. Though 30 loads of 600-mm pipes were offloaded in the area last week, the local community is now forcibly resisting the movement of vehicles carrying pipeline materials. On their part, the police have informed the authority that no police protection can be provided for the time being as the matter is now pending in court for an order.
It was following intense pressure from the State government, especially on the part of the Industries Department, that the KWA has decided to continue with the project which faces opposition from people from all walks of life.
Though the project was mooted by the United Democratic Front (UDF) government in 2013, it had been kept in abeyance following strong resistance from the general public. “At present, 74 mld of water is released from the Malampuzha reservoir to meet the drinking water requirements whereas the actual daily requirement is 92 mld. The government was forced to limit the daily release of drinking water to 74 mld owing to poor availability,” Mr. Sivarajan said.
