Doubts on water release claims

Activists say Palakkad got only 3.7 tmc so far despite claims otherwise

The dried up Vengalakayam dam in Chittur near Palakkad. It is one of the PAP water storage.

The State government’s claim that Kerala received more water than Tamil Nadu from the inter-State Parambikulam-Aliyar Project (PAP) this year due to the intervention of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has evoked angry responses from small-scale farmers in the water-scarce eastern border villages of the district.

While K. Krishnankutty, MLA, claims that Kerala got 11.5 tmc (thousand million cubic feet) water out of the total 20 tmc collected in the PAP project from the Chittur Puzha and Chalakudy river basins, water rights activists question the claim.

According to Jalasamrakshana Samithy chairman S. Kochukrishnan, Kerala has failed miserably in getting its due share of water from PAP due to indifference on the part of Tamil Nadu. Kerala had failed to protect the interests of farmers in Chittur taluk, he alleged.

More water unlikely

“In place of the 6,260 mcft water due to the State from the PAP between July last year and March this year, Kerala received only 3,714 mcft. The State was entitled to get 7.25 tmc water through the Manakkadavu weir into the Chittur river during the period. However, what we received was only 3.7 tmc water,” he said. Chances of getting the remaining water by June, the last month of the water year, was remote.

1, 578 mcft in TN dams

According to him, Tamil Nadu now has 1,578.31 mcft of water in its PAP dams. It was able to store so such water by denying Kerala its share, he alleged.

Vilayodi Venugopal, water rights activist, said summer rain in the Anamalai area had contributed significantly to the storage in PAP but Kerala never received any benefit.

The Joint Water Regulatory Board has confirmed that Kerala received only 3.7 tmc of water from the PAP since July last year. However, the State government maintains that parched regions of Palakkad received higher share of water.

‘Review agreement’

Civil society movements in the region are demanding an urgent re-look into the PAP agreement against the backdrop of reduced rainfall and consequent environmental damage.

They are calling for a review of the project agreement, with Western Ghats conservation as the prime focus.