Monday, Dec 08, 2003
Monday, Dec 08, 2003 |
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Kerala
By Our Staff Reporter
An official said that at the last meeting of the Joint Water Regulatory Board (JWRB) at Aliyar, the Tamil Nadu officials were told that the sudden stoppage of water was a "total violation of the PAP agreement.'' The agreement, signed on May 29, 1970 (with retrospective effect from November 9, 1958), says that "the Government of Tamil Nadu shall supply annually, 7.25 tmc water at the Manacadavu weir, near Kerala border, for the Chitturpuzha irrigation scheme.'' The memorandum on "Review of Arrangements embodied in the PAP agreement,'' submitted by the Government to Tamil Nadu says that "the entire yield of Aliyar and Thirumurthy dams along with the yield above the Manacadavu was flowing into the Bharathapuzha, making the entire Bharathapuzha basin cultivable before the construction of the Aliyar and Thirumurthy dams.'' It further says: "on the basis of the observations made and experiences gained in water management of the basin, it was felt that much water is available above the Manacadavu weir than expected while framing the agreement. Hence, at least 2.5 tmc water more may be released through the Manacadavu weir and be made available to Kerala to meet the bare minimum needs of the Bharathapuzha basin, fixing the total supply through the Manacadavu weir as 9.75 tmc from the Aliyar-Palar sub-basin to Kerala.'' Though Kerala was bound to get 9.75 tmc of water from the Aliyar Dam, it was not getting even the agreed 7.25 tmc, the officials said. The Executive Engineer, Water Resources Division, Chittur, V.K. Mahanudevan, in his letter (No.D2\4966\79) on November 28 on the eligibility of water from Tamil Nadu said: "our eligibility for the water year 2003-04 is 7,889 mc ft, including backlog. Out of this quantity, we have received only 1,977 mc ft. We have to get a balance quantity of 5,912 mc ft.'' Tamil Nadu has stopped water for the second crop at Chitturpuzha from December 1 under the plea that there was less water at the Aliyar Dam this time and already a portion of it had been released to Kerala. Tamil Nadu's argument that it cannot supply water because there is less water in the Aliyar has no basis because the PAP agreement covers not only Aliyar, but also 10 other dams under the Parambikulam group of reservoirs, the officials said, adding in the main Parambikulam dam, 8 tmc of water is now available and part of it could be diverted to the Aliyar Dam through the Aliyar feeder canal or through the contour canal. Instead of doing that, Tamil Nadu had taken away the Aliyar water to the Thirumurthy Dam for use in their area. K. Krishnankutty, former MLA of Chittur and member of the Kerala Assembly Ad hoc Committee on the Parambikulam-Mullaperiyar water sharing agreements, constituted in1994-95, said that by stopping water to the Chitturpuzha Scheme, the Tamil Nadu Government had violated the PAP agreement. Mr. Krishnankutty demanded that the Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, take up the matter with his Tamil Nadu counterpart, Jayalalithaa, immediately to save the standing paddy crops worth Rs. 50 crores. Major political parties, people's representatives and farmers' organisations too have demanded the State Government to urgently take up the matter with Tamil Nadu.
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