COIMBATORE: Officials from Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD) will soon have a smooth ride to the Siruvani dam in Kerala to check the water level and open the sluices.
Three years since the 18 km ghat road from Chadivayal to Siruvani dam was damaged in a landslide in June 2018, officials had difficulty in reaching the dam. The road has not been repaired and officials loathe to travel 100 km extra through Mannarkad to reach the dam. TWAD officials said it is not possible to travel that far on a daily and also that Kerala government imposed restrictions on their movement. But things are set to change.
"We have decided to renovate the ghat road, 9km on the Tamil Nadu side. We are preparing an estimate for around Rs 4 crore and it would be submitted to the government for approval this week", said an official.
"We also paid `three crores to Kerala to lay the remaining nine km road within its border last year. But they did not complete the work. However, we are laying the road on our side to ensure monitoring of the dam. Once we get the government's nod, work will be initiated. Without road connectivity we cannot ensure regular monitoring of water distribution," the official added.
Siruvani dam is one of the major drinking water sources of Coimbatore after the Pillur dam. Despite Chief Minister MK Stalin writing to his Kerala counterpart about maintaining the water level at the full reservoir level (FRL) of 878.50 m, Kerala has not been doing so citing dam safety and also, reduced water supply to 55 MLD. The bad road adds to officials' woes in monitoring the dam.
While the water distribution is under the discussion between two State governments, TWAD board officials hope the road access is necessary to monitor the release of water.
As per an agreement for this project between Tamil Nadu and Kerala governments in 1973, water not exceeding 1.30 TMC annually (July 1 to June 30) was to be supplied to the erstwhile Coimbatore Municipal Town for drinking water purposes for 99 years. Though the agreement provides for the supply of water up to 1.30 TMC, the actual supply is far less than that, according to the officials.