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Rangasamy for early start of river interlinking project

PUDUCHERRY: Chief Minister N. Rangasamy on Thursday stressed the need for expediting the proposal of linking the Kandaleru, the Swarnamuki, the Araniyaru in Andhra Pradesh and the Palar and the Cauvery in Tamil Nadu to irrigate 6,200 acres of cultivable land in Puducherry region. This would also help Karaikal, in the tail end area of the Cauvery delta, receive more water from Grand Anicut.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the 12th National Water Convention, he said early start of the project of linking the Pennaiyar, the Palar and the Cauvery would give Puducherry the pride of executing the first part of the plan in the bigger project.

A study conducted between 1981 and 1998 revealed that groundwater level had decreased to 26 metres, he said. “Puducherry is facing the danger of water scarcity owing to this. Farmers of Karaikal are facing difficulties owing to irregular release of our share of six tmcft of the Cauvery water,” he added. Another major problem was ingression of seawater in the coastal areas, as the rate of exploitation of groundwater became higher than the rate of replenishment, Mr. Rangasamy said.

Rajya Sabha Member V. Narayanasamy said the Union Territory had to fight with Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to get its share of six tmcft water under the Cauvery River Water Tribunal’s award.

Union Minister of Water Resources Saifuddin Soz presented the Sookshma Sinchai Puraskar Award-2007 of the Jain-Indian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage to Jaya Murlidharan, member of Sinchan Sahyog in Aurangabad in recognition of her contribution to sustainable agricultural farming. The Additional Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, S.Manoharan, highlighted the topics of the meet. Chief Secretary Rakesh Behari, MLA M.A.S. Subramanian and Director General of National Water Development Agency A.D.Bhardwaj, and Chief Engineer (PWD) C. Anandane spoke.

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