The heavy flow of uncontrolled flood water and water released from Aliyar Dam have put the Moolathara regulator-cum-bridge, an important part of inter-state Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP) that provides irrigation water to Chittur taluk, in serious danger of another breach.
The delay in repairing Moolathara regulator that was breached on November 8 due to release of huge quantity of water from the Aliyar by Tamil Nadu, has put the entire structure of Moolathara in danger again now.
On Sunday morning nearly 30,000 cusecs flood water reached Moolathara Dam from the rivers of Nallar, Varakiyar and Uppar along with the excess water released from Aliyar Dam due to the heavy rain in Tamil Nadu.
This has threatened the safety of the ‘guide wall’ that was constructed as a temporary measure to the breached regulator for distribution of water for irrigation through the Right Bank Canal of Moolathara.
The guide wall was constructed in anticipation of the immediate repairing of the breached regulator, said Sudheer Padikkal, Deputy Director of Joint Water Regulator Board, PAP. If the guiding wall us damaged, the entire water distribution system of Chittur irrigation project will be affected, he added.
Mr Padikkal warned that there was now no way to control the flood water and the excess water released from Aliyar which comes to Moolathara.
Superintending Engineer of Chitturpuzha Division V.K. Mahanudevan told `The Hindu’ over phone from Moolathara that the engineers are on the site of the ‘guide wall’ monitoring it as the flood water had already reached the Moolathara regulator.
In the heavy flow of water the mud cover of the guide wall was washed away but how far the structure will stand the pressure of water is being observed, he said.
When asked about the delay in repairing the breached regulator, he said that the construction would be taken up once the Irrigation Design Research Board (IDRB) prepared the design for the new structure.
But the apathy of the State government particularly that of the Water Resources Department in not repairing the major breached caused to the Moolathara-regulator-cum-bridge will cost the farmers and the State very dearly. As a result, Kerala’s share of water released from the Aliyar Dam under the inter-state PAP agreement, could not be stored for distribution to Chittur for cultivation, particularly that of paddy.
This serious neglect of authorities to the cause of farmers and the food security of the State is happening at a time when the Agriculture Department’s effort to boost paddy cultivation has made encouraging results in the District as it producing nearly half of the total paddy in Kerala.
Soon after the breach of Moolathara regulator the Government had appointed an expert committee to go into the causes of the breach of the right bank canal and suggest measures to prevent such incidents in future. The expert committee has already submitted its report but no action has been taken to reconstruct the regulator.
Meanwhile the Deesheeya Karshaka Samajam in a statement has condemned the attitude of Government in not repairing the Moolathara regulator that had breached one year back. Though many Ministers rushed the spot last November and promised that the reconstruction will be completed within months nothing had happened.
The government has also not cared to implement the expert committee report on the reconstruction of the regulator, the Samajam general secretary Muthalamthode Mani said.
Now the people of the area are living in anxiety of the total washing off of the Moolathara Dam due to the heavy inflow of water from Tamil Nadu area, he said.
