Kerala - Pathanamthitta   

Call to revise inter-State pact on water sharing

Staff Reporter

Need to create public awareness stressed

PATHANAMTHITTA: The former Member (Civil) of the Kerala State Electricity Board and the chief advisor of the Government in the Mullapperiyar issue M.K. Parmeswaran Nair has stressed the need to create public awareness on various inter-State water disputes so as to protect the interests of the State.

Mr. Nair was delivering the keynote address at a seminar on `inter-State water disputes and Kerala's power sector' organised by the KSEB Pensioners' Association district unit here on Wednesday.

He alleged that though the project areas of Mullaperiyar and Parambikkulam Aliyar were situated in Kerala, the State had little power over these projects as per the inter-State agreement signed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu in 1970.

Mr. Nair alleged that the Tamil Nadu Government was yet to show a positive gesture for revising the Mullapperiyar agreement signed in 1970, disregarding the earlier understanding that it should be reviewed and revised after a period of 30 years. He alleged that Kerala never received its due share of water as per the Parambikkulam Aliyar Agreement, affecting power generation in Kerala. Though the proposed Pampa-Achenkoil-Vaipar Link project had been temporarily shelved, Tamil Nadu was relentlessly exerting pressure on the Union Ministry for its implementation, disregarding its ill effects on Kerala, he alleged.

Mr. Nair said that a new agreement should be entered into with Tamil Nadu after quashing the present agreements, original lease deed and two supplemental agreements to protect Kerala's interests.

He said that the validity of the new agreement should not exceed 50 years. He said Tamil Nadu was doing cultivation in 2,00,000 acres using the Mullapperiyar waters. He said that the required quantity of water for this purpose should be scientifically worked out, taking into consideration the monthly or annual water requirement of crops and only that much quantity of water sharing need to be agreed upon in the new agreement.

A specific clause must also be included in the proposed new agreement to the effect that in the event of any one of the conditions being violated, the entire agreement would become null and void, he said. K. Sivadasan Nair, MLA, inaugurated the seminar. Pampa Parirakshana Samiti general secretary and the KSEB Pensioners' Association district leader N.K. Sukumaran Nair welcomed the gathering. Association State vice-president K.P. Radhakrishna Panicker and the other office-bearers V.N.T.N. Vasudevan Nair, V.N. Achuthan Nair and P.C. Mathew also spoke.

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