The inclusion of the Kerala Congress (M) in the Left Democratic Front cabinet appears to have given a fresh lease of life to the Meenachil River Valley project, which remains a non-starter more than three-and-half years after it was first proposed.
Senior KC(M) leader and Irrigation Minister Roshy Augustine has already expressed his interest in establishing the project, which had been actively pursued by the late K.M.Mani - the founder leader of his party. The project envisages irrigating about 10,000 hectares of agricultural land, besides catering to various drinking water projects.
“As far as Central Travancore is concerned, the project is a necessity as it will directly benefit thousands of lives in the Meenachil basin. Plans are afoot to examine the shortcomings in the existing plan so as to kickstart the project in a time-bound manner,” Mr.Augustine told The Hindu .
While the initial proposal was to construct a 75 mere high dam along the Meenachil basin at Adukkam with a reservoir area of 228 hectares, the project hit its first blockade when the Kerala State Electricity Board began diverting water from the Meenachil basin by constructing a diversion weir at Vazhikkadavu with a tunnel to the Idukki dam.
An expect committee appointed by the State government in 2012, however, found the dam construction at Adukkam, clearly unfeasible. It instead recommended an alternative plan to reroute water from the upstream of the Malankara Dam and to construct a series of mini dams in the Meenachil and its three major tributaries.
Noting that the Muvattupuzha river basin will get surplus water even after diverting up to 8 Cumec (Cubic Meter per second) water to the Meenachil basin, the committee also proposed the diversion by ensuring that ‘the system shall not affect the Malankara reservoir or the tail race channel of the Moolaamattom Power house.’
Following this, the State government gave an administrative sanction for constructing six mini-dams and technical sanction for four among these. Later, an administrative sanction of ₹131 crore too was accorded for a dam at Pazhukkakanam and its canals.
The project, however, has since remained in limbo following strong protests from various quarters including locals and non-allocation of funds in the State Budget.
