PALAKKAD: The Parambikulam-Aliyar river water talks between Kerala and Tamil Nadu will be held at Thiruvananthapuram on January 19. “Water Resources Department additional chief secretary Tom Jose and officers of the department will represent Kerala and the Tamil Nadu side will be represented by the principal secretary of the PWD (Irrigation), Chairman of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board and other officers,” said deputy director of the Joint Water Regulatory Development Board (JWRDB) Sudheer Padikkal.
He said Kerala had been allotted 1.02 tmc of water (1,020 million cubic feet), which has been promised. For two days though, upon the state’s request, Tamil Nadu had stopped the release of water so the former could clean the canals. “According to the inter-state river water sharing agreement, Tamil Nadu should have released 1.14 tmc of water (1114 million cubic feet of water) in January,” Padikkal said. “However, during the talks in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala will demand Tamil Nadu release 400 cusecs on a daily basis into the Chitturpuzha to save the standing crop of paddy in Palakkad.”
“Thereafter, post March 15, Tamil Nadu need to release water only for drinking purposes. This is the state’s stand.” An all-party meet recently held in Chittur presided over by K Krishnankutty MLA had warned of a strong agitation if Tamil Nadu did not release the water according to the agreement. Krishnankutty said Tamil Nadu is not empowered to take water from the Parambikulam dam to Thirumoorthy dam through the contour canal unilaterally and it should be done under JWRDB’s supervision.