Tamil Nadu has reacted strongly to news reports that the Kerala government has planned to build a dam across the Pambar at Pattisserry and urged the Centre to advise Kerala against proceeding with the plan.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam urged him to take steps immediately for the constitution of the Cauvery Management Board and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee so that the final order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal was effectively implemented.
Pambar is a tributary of the Amaravathy, which, in turn, forms part of the Cauvery basin. Mr. Panneerselvam said Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy recently laid the foundation for the Rs.26-crore dam project to store about two thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft). According to reports, preliminary works had started, and this caused anxiety and uncertainty among Tamil Nadu farmers, he said.
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There was an apprehension that the irrigation and drinking water supply in the areas dependent on the Amaravathy would be affected if Kerala was allowed to build the dam, he said.
The plan to execute new projects in the Pambar sub-basin was in violation of the final order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal. Any new project should have the approval of the Cauvery Management Board, and the consent of Tamil Nadu, the downstream State. In the absence of the Board, it would not be possible to monitor the execution of a new project by the party States. A visit by PWD engineers to the site on November 7 indicated that though work was yet to begin, it was ascertained that Kerala might begin the work very soon, Mr. Panneerselvam said.
He also requested the Centre to ask the Kerala government to submit full details of the schemes proposed.
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