Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Tamil Nadu flouted PAP accord, says Premachandran

Special Correspondent

Says State will demand compensation in terms of quantity of water Minister says State will demand compensation

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Minister for Water Resources N.K. Premachandran said on Friday that Tamil Nadu had violated the Parambikulam Aliyar agreement with Kerala.

Addressing a press conference here, the Minister said the State would take a strong stand and demand compensation in terms of quantity of water at the forthcoming meeting of the Joint Water Regulatory Board on February 14.

The Minister said that as per the Parambikulam Aliyar agreement, Tamil Nadu was to maintain a water level of 2,663 feet at Kerala Sholayar on February 1. However, the level on Thursday was only 2,658.40 feet.

Kerala should be getting 12.3 tmc water every year through Sholayar and 2.3 tmc though the Manacadavu weir. The water level came down because the water that should be flowing into Sholayar was diverted as per directives from higher-ups in the Tamil Nadu Government.

Mr. Premachandran said there was no rational explanation for Tamil Nadu's refusal to maintain the water level, as there was good rainfall last year. Tamil Nadu discontinued release of water to Kerala after power generation for about 15 days in December and January.

The release of water was resumed on January 10 after the State wrote to Tamil Nadu at Chief Engineer and Secretary levels. If supply had not been resumed, the water level would have been further down now.

Recalling the specifics of the agreement, the Minister said Tamil Nadu was required to maintain a water level of 2,663 feet both on September 1 and January 1.

A minimum level of not less than 2,658 feet was to be maintained between September 1 and February 1. However, Tamil Nadu maintained the level specified for February 1 only twice since 1971-72. However, the water level had touched 2,663 feet on September 1 on 11 occasions.

Economic loss

He said Kerala was suffering considerable economic loss because Tamil Nadu was not releasing water as per the terms of the agreement. So, the State wanted the agreement to be reviewed and steps taken for effective implementation of the terms of the agreement.

He said Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan would inaugurate the construction of 50.86 km of seawall on the Alappuzha coast on February 5.

This was part of a Rs.175-crore project sanctioned by the Planning Commission for the protection of the coast. The project would be completed by 2010.

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