The Hindu : Inadequate storage facility in State's reservoirs

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 07, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Inadequate storage facility in State's reservoirs

By Radhakrishnan Kuttoor

PATHANAMTHITTA, MARCH 6. Faced with the worst drought situation in the past one decade, Kerala has grossly inadequate storage facility for the hefty annual run-off it receives during the two monsoon seaons.

As per Government records, the total run-off of the 41 west- flowing and three east-flowing rivers in the State is estimated at 70,323 million cubic metres (MCM). Of this, the utilisable yield has been worked out to be 42,722 MCM. However, the State's existing storage facility is hardly 5,000 MCM, which includes the 3,350 MCM total storage capacity of the reservoirs of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB).

It is noteworthy that the KSEB reservoirs cater not only to power generation but also to the drinking water and irrigation needs of the people in the downstream areas during the lean season.

The reservoirs of the Idukki hydro-electric project act as the storage for the Muvattupuzha Valley Irrigation Project (MVIP) and likewise, the Pampa and Kakki reservoirs of the Sabarigiri project act as the storage for the Pampa Irrigation Project (PIP).

Similarly, the Sholayar and Poringalkuthu reservoirs cater to the water needs of the Chalakkudy river basin and that of Edamalayar and seven other medium reservoirs in the Mudirappuzha basin act as the storage for the Periyar Valley Irrigation Project (PVIP).

Official data shows that the State receives an annual rainfall of 3,000 mm, 85 per cent of which occurs during the two monsoon periods.

The State, with an area extending up to 38,863 sq km, houses 32 million people. Records show that the per capita water availability of the State has reduced from 5,000 cubic metres to 2,250 cubic metres in the past 50 years owing to the population boom and this is almost equal to the national average of 2,200 cubic metres, experts say.

According to C.V.J. Varma, president of the International Commission of Large Dams, storage projects are essential in the Indian situation as rivers carry bulk of their water-flow during the monsoon months and are relatively dry in the non-monsoon months. Hence, more storage projects for regulated release of water for various uses are inevitable in Kerala.

Many would like to believe that watershed development is an alternative to constructing storage reservoirs. However, experts opine that though watershed development, traditional methods of water harvesting, etc., are necessary, it would not be sufficient to meet the drinking water, irrigation and industrial needs of the State in the near future.

Even the Kerala State Water Policy of 1992 had recognised this fact and had emphasised the need to develop more storage facilities in the State. Ironically, the State had miserably failed to envisage any major storage project even after 12 years.

An estimation by the Kerala Water Authority shows that the drinking water needs of the State alone will be 6,675 million litres per day (MLD), which is around 2,350 MCM per year.

After Edamalayar reservoir with a 1,017.8 MCM capacity constructed in 1985, the KSEB could not make any major addition to its storage capacity, except three small reservoirs at Moozhiyar (1.16 MCM), Veluthode (0.61 MCM) and Lower Periyar (4.5 MCM), according to official sources.

Though clearance from the Union Ministry of Forests and Environment is said to be the major hurdle to launch new storage schemes in the State, it is alleged that the successive Governments in the State had failed to present the positive aspects of various multi-purpose hydro-electric project proposals. It is noteworthy that the State houses five reservoirs - Mullapperiyar, Parambikkulam, Peruvaripallom, Thunakkadavu and Siruvani - with a total storage capacity of 981 MCM for the exclusive benefits of Tamil Nadu.

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