Despite several rounds of discussions and communications between high-level officials of both States, Tamil Nadu has not responded favourably to Kerala’s demand for sourcing more water from the Parambikulam dam to the Aliyar dam for drinking and irrigation purposes in the Chittoor area, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in the Kerala Assembly on February 1 (Thursday).
He was responding to a submission by K. Babu on the need for immediate intervention by the Chief Minister so that the assured irrigation water for Kerala under the Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP) is released by Tamil Nadu.
Mr. Babu pointed out that people in the Chittoor region were up in arms because of the acute shortage of water for irrigation as well as drinking purposes.
Under the Parambikulam-Aliyar inter-State river water agreement, Kerala was to receive 7,250 million cubic feet (mc ft) of water through the Manakadavu weir during a water year (between July 1 to June 10) from Tamil Nadu.
As per the agreement, in the Upper Neerar weir, all water that is available between October 1, 2023 and January 31, 2024 should rightfully belong to Kerala. However, in the 2023-24 water year, till January 29, 2024, Kerala received only 3,573 mc ft of water.
Under the agreement, in the first fortnight of January 2024, Kerala should have received 5,200 mc ft of water. During this period, Kerala had actually sought 5,788 mc ft water.
Mr. Vijayan said the government had made several interventions, at the government level and at the official level in 2023-24, seeking adequate quantum of water for Kerala at the Manakadavu weir in the water year.
However, at a joint meeting held on October 19, 2023, though Kerala had presented the problem of water shortage in the Chittoor region and the quantum of water that should be released for the State, Tamil Nadu had taken the stand that because of the drought situation, the quantum of water sought by Kerala could not be provided. It said that more water can be released for Kerala as and when more water becomes available in the catchment area of the dams.
Kerala had opposed this stance by Tamil Nadu and had demanded that if required, water should be released to the Aliyar dam from the Parambikulam dam and made available at the Manakadavu weir.
However, despite several attempts by the Water Resources Secretary and the Chief Secretary, Tamil Nadu had refused to change its stance, said Mr. Vijayan.
The government will continue to confer with Tamil Nadu on the issue so that Kerala gets the water it should rightfully get under the PAP, said Mr. Vijayan.
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