COIMBATORE: Members of various political parties and farmers in Coimbatore region on Sunday decided to file a petition in the Supreme Court seeking measures to stop the construction of check dams across the Bhavani, a tributary of Cauvery, in Kerala.
The Tamil Nadu government had maintained that the Kerala government “may be advised not to take up any project or works without obtaining the prior concurrence of the Tamil Nadu government and until the Cauvery Management Board and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee come into force and judicial references are finally settled”.
In the wake of Supreme Court’s dismissal of the petition, members of the Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK), Dravidar Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) from Coimbatore, Tirupur and Erode organised a meeting here on Sunday and decided to file a petition in Supreme Court on behalf of the protest committee.
“Kerala government is constructing check dam across the Bhavani at six places in Thekkuvattai and Manjikandi. They have also stored water in the check dam for about 1.5 km,” said TPDK general secretary K Ramakrishnan.
“If Kerala completes construction of check dams in all the six places, farming in Coimbatore region would be affected. So we are planning to file a petition in the Supreme Court seeking a stay,” he added.
“All the members of our party will stage a blockade on roads leading to Kerala on March 12. The protest would be in full swing in KG Chavadi check post. We will seek people’s participation,” said DMK deputy general secretary Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan.
Meanwhile, water crisis continued to affect Coimbatore residents with water being supplied to some places once in 15 to 17 days. The city is facing its worst water crisis after a gap of six decades.
The water level in Siruvani dam, which quench the thirst of people in more than 25 wards, has gone below the dead storage after a gap of three-and-a-half-years.
The Tamil Nadu Water and Drainage Board, with the permission of the Kerala government, is now drawing 15 MLD of water from the Siruvani using motors and is supplying it to five wards, which were not interlinked with Pillur water. Other wards are getting Pillur water as an alternative measure. To tide over the crisis, the Corporation had started supplying water in lorries.