THRIVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Government has taken a strong stand in the dispute with Tamil Nadu on sharing the Neyyar water and asked its neighbour ‘not to politicise water’.
In response to Tamil Nadu Works Minister Dorai Murugan’s statement in the Assembly that Kerala was denying Neyyar water to farmers in Vilavancode taluk of Kanyakumari district, State Water Resources Minister N.K.Premachandran told a news conference on Friday that instead of trying to ensure the supply of Neyyar water in Vilavancode, Tamil Nadu was trying to establish right over Neyyar.
‘’Dorai Murugan’s claim that Neyyar is an inter-State river is totally baseless. Tamil Nadu didn’t raise such a claim neither in 1959 when the Neyyar Dam was partially commissioned, nor in the water sharing agreement prepared by it in 1971. The same Dorai Murugan had admitted in 2000 that Neyyar was not an inter-State river,’’ said Premachandran. The Minister issued copies of a letter dated October 3, 2000, to the media written by Dorai Murugan to the then State Water Resources Minister which clearly stated that Neyyar was not an inter-State river.
Premachandran said that the Kerala Government had viewed the concerns raised by Tamil Nadu very favourably. ‘’Braving the criticism raised by some quarters within the State, the Government decided to supply water to farmers of Vilavancode taluk. But, Tamil Nadu refused to approve the draft agreement prepared by the Government. On October 31, this year, four months after we sent the draft agreement, Tamil Nadu responded that an agreement on the lines of PAP agreement was needed for Neyyar water sharing,’’ he said.
‘’Kerala can never approve the claim of Tamil Nadu that Neyyar is an inter-State river. Such an argument is unfortunate and baseless. Instead of sticking to such baseless arguments, Tamil Nadu should reciprocate with constructive steps, taking into account the broad-minded stand and camaraderie expressed by the State,’’ Premachandran said.
Water from Neyyar Dam was supplied to farmers at Vilavancode taluk uninterruptedly till October, 2004. The supply was stopped following a draught in the State that year.
The issue became a debating point between the two States after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi sent a letter to the Kerala Chief Minister on October 3, 2007.
Neyyar flows in State: Jacob
Former Minister for Water Resources T.M.Jacob has said that Neyyar is not an inter-State river and the claim by Tamil Nadu in this regard is totally unjustified. Neyyar, which has a total length of 56 km originates in the State and flows within the territory of the State. The 497-km-long catchment area of the river also lies exclusively in the State.
Jacob said that while he was the Minister, he had stopped supplying water from Neyyar to Tamil Nadu without an agreement and the LDF Government decided to resume the supply when its leaders held talks with Tamil Nadu Government for the release of Madhani. Though the State Government had prepared a draft agreement for the supply of water for agricultural purposes and handed over it to Tamil Nadu, they prepared another document in which Neyyar was termed as an inter-State river. The CPM leadership in Tamil Nadu had shown special interest in the case of Neyyar water.
Jacob urged the Government to revoke its decision to supply water from Neyyar to Tamil Nadu as the State had no surplus water. He also warned against repeating the mistakes happened in the cases of Mullapperiyar and Parambikulam-Aliyar projects.