The next meeting between Chief Secretaries of Tamil Nadu and Kerala is likely to take place in Thiruvananthapuram in October as part of the review of the Parambikulam-Aliyar Project (PAP) agreement.
The last meeting took place in Chennai in February 2009 between K. S. Sripathi and K.J. Mathew, Chief Secretaries of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. At that time, it was decided to frame a package of issues.
Two months later, Secretaries of the Water Resource Departments of the two States conducted further discussions in Chennai and Thiruvanathapuram.
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Among the issues are Tamil Nadu's claim of 2.5 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft.) from the Anamalayar river and Kerala's demand for the release of Aliyar water at the Manacadu weir over and above its present share of 7.25 tmcft.
15-km tunnel
Tamil Nadu is also proposing to build a 15-km-long tunnel connecting Nirar with Nallar as an alternative to the 49.2-km-long Contour Canal. As of now, Kerala has not responded to this proposal, says a senior official.
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Formally signed on May 29, 1970, the PAP agreement took effect from November 9, 1958, as it was then that an understanding was reached between the States.
The pact also includes agreements between the two States on July 4, 1960, and May 10, 1969. It provides for a review after 30 years. The present review has been going on since 1988.
The agreement provides for sharing of waters of rivers such as the Anamalayar, Nirar, Sholayar, Parambikulam and Aliyar and its tributary Palar [which has nothing to do with the Palar river, which runs through Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu] for generation of hydro-electric power, irrigation, drinking water supply and industrial use in the two States.