The recent inauguration of the Athikadavu-Avinashi project, for the benefit of a couple of western districts of Tamil Nadu, has brought back memories of another key project: Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP). This project has been responsible for transforming the drought-prone areas in Coimbatore, Tiruppur, and Erode districts of Tamil Nadu, and Palakkad district of Kerala.
Billed by none other than former Union Home Minister G.B. Pant as an outstanding example for the other States, the PAP is meant for harnessing the water of the Bharathapuzha, Chalakudi, and Periyar basins for irrigation and power production in both States, besides transferring water from the surplus areas to the deficit areas, an idea that remains relevant even now. The project accomplishes the diversion and integration of eight west-flowing rivers: six in the Anaimalai Hills (Anamalaiyar, Sholayar, Thunacadavu, Nirar, Peruvaripallam, and Parambikulam) and two (Aliyar and Palar) in the plains.
Not much irrigation in western belt
By the mid-1950s, the State had realised that there were not many irrigation schemes for the western belt, as the Cauvery delta and northern parts of the State saw the development of projects during the British era. At the same time, Kerala was getting rice, the staple, from the far-away Thanjavur. Besides, huge quantities of water of several rivers of the neighbouring State went unutilised. It was against this backdrop that V.K. Palaniswamy Gounder, a Congress leader of the Coimbatore district, advocated the PAP. As a member of the first Madras Assembly (1952-57), he raised the subject in the House. Once, he took C. Subramaniam, Finance Minister in the Kamaraj Cabinet, to the possible site of the project by driving in a car for about 48 km on the ghat road and riding on elephants, according to Subramaniam’s memoirs Hand of Destiny (Vol. I). Tamil Nadu too had riparian rights to the rivers in view of a portion of the catchments falling in its territory.
Change of government
Soon, the discussions began between the two States. While Tamil Nadu wanted to ensure that the project helped to irrigate as many areas as possible, Kerala was for utilising the water of the Sholayar, which originates in Tamil Nadu. The change of regime in the neighbouring State did not cause any trouble and the first Communist government, led by E.M.S. Namboodiripad, popularly known as EMS, took over. But, as Subramaniam indicated, the nature of the project was something that the country had not undertaken till then. “This was the first time in India that transfer of water from one valley to another was being attempted. This required constructing long tunnels through high mountains. We were new to this technology but the Madras [Tamil Nadu] engineers expressed confidence...,” the former Minister wrote (pages 303-304, Vol. I). He also complimented the supportive role played by V.R. Krishna Iyer, who was the Irrigation Minister then.
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru inaugurated the Parambikulam Aliyar Project on October 07, 1961. | Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives
Understanding reached
An understanding was reached at a meeting between Namboodiripad and Subramaniam in New Delhi on November 9, 1958. Tamil Nadu’s Finance Minister had promptly informed Pant, who was the then Chairman of the Southern Zonal Council. The settlement was hailed as a “Diwali gift for Madras”, according to a report published in The Hindu the next day.
Though the understanding was reached, there was no written document. In anticipation of the signing of the agreement, Tamil Nadu began the ₹36-crore work, including the construction of the Parambikulam dam, the site of which is in Kerala. The Namboodiripad government was short-lived and Subramaniam had to negotiate with the government of his successor Pattom A. Thanu Pillai. In July 1960, it was decided that Kerala would build one dam, in its territory, across the Sholayar, apart from the one to be constructed by Tamil Nadu. Again, Pant played the role of a mediator, months before his death.
Eventually, on May 29, 1970, the two States — now Namboodiripad heading Kerala and M. Karunanidhi leading Tamil Nadu — signed an agreement with retrospective effect from November 1958. Apart from Parambikulam, eight other dams are part of the network, the combined capacity of which is about 31.5 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft). Hydro power stations have a total capacity of 210 MW.
Ayacut revised
The ayacut, which was originally around 2.5 lakh acres, has been revised to about 4.2 lakh acres, the extension of which had come in for criticism from Subramaniam in his memoirs. In rotation, water is supplied to four zones for three-four months once in two years. With conjunctive use of groundwater, farmers under the PAP are “far more enterprising” than their counterparts of the Cauvery delta, says a senior water expert, adding that the western region’s agriculturists have also taken to micro-irrigation in a substantial way.
The review of the agreement is still on. Another expert says that if Kerala agrees to the diversion of 2.5 tmc ft from the Anamalayar to Tamil Nadu along with the Nirar-Nallar multi-purpose straight-cut scheme, the problem of water shortage in the western districts can be minimised largely, as the Bharathapuzha and Chalakudi basins continue to have excess water that remains unutilised.
