VELLORE: With the Supreme Court clearing the decks for Karnataka to go ahead with the dam project across river Markandeya, a tributary of Thenpennaiyar, farmers and activists in Tamil Nadu have expressed anguish and said the dam would block water flowing downstream to several areas in the State.
“If the dam is built, it will deprive six districts in TN of water for irrigation and drinking purposes. Karnataka can block the entire surplus water with the 160 meter tall dam in Bangarpet,” said Tamil Nadu All Farmers Association Coordination Committee general secretary AC Venkatesan.
“Once the surplus water is blocked, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Kallakurichi, Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram and Cuddalore districts will suffer the worst as they depend extensively on Thenpennaiyar,” he told Express. The Supreme Court had recently dismissed Tamil Nadu’s petition seeking a stay on dam’s construction.
Venkatesan, who has been in the forefront to save Palar River, also noted that the proposed dam will render the Thenpennai-Palar and Thenpennai-Cheyyar projects unviable as the water may not flow down anymore.
What the government must do?
Farmers have urged the State government to immediately move an appeal against the apex court’s verdict. “We request the government to file an appeal immediately against the order favouring Karnataka. The cause of State should be taken up in a proactive manner to convince the SC so that we can rein in Karnataka from going ahead with the project,” demanded ‘Ambalur’ A Asokan, a river water rights activist.
Ruing that Tamil Nadu had already lost the battle to save Palar, across which Andhra Pradesh has raised several check dams, he said there should be no compromise in protecting the State’s rights with regard to Thenpennaiyar. The farmers have planned a series of protests regarding the issue from November 20.