PALAKKAD: Following the high-power meeting between representatives of Kerala and Tamil Nadu Irrigation Departments at Coimbatore on Monday, it was agreed to release water from the Aliyar dam into the Chitturpuzha.While the TN delegation was headed by Chief Engineer Ethiraj, the Kerala side was led by Sudheer Padikkal, Joint Water Development Regulation Board (JWRDB) deputy director.
“During today’s(Monday) meeting Tamil Nadu agreed to release 400 cusecs of water from the Aliyar dam till February 28 and 300 cusecs from March 1-15. It was also agreed to convene another round of secretary-level talks before March 15 to discuss the quantity of water to be released during the post-March 15 period. By then, the farmers requirements would have been met,” Sudheer Padikkal told Express after the meeting.
“The Kerala side informed Tamil Nadu it will hold talks only after it releases water from the Aliyar dam into the Chitturpuzha. Therefore, on Sunday Tamil Nadu released 400 cusecs of water and the meeting between the officers of the two States was held on Monday. It was pointed out the Parambikulam dam had 1.5 tmc of water and the Upper Aliyar and Kadambara dams together had 2.5 tmc of water which can be released into the Aliyar dam and from there into the Chitturpuzha,” he said.
In another development, the Irrigation Department authorities also began to release water from the Siruvani dam into the Bhavani to avert the drought situation in Attappadi. More importantly, release of water into the Bhavani was increased to 50 cusecs from 5 cusecs which drew a sharp reaction from Tamil Nadu since the drinking water needs of the Coimbatore city was met from the Siruvani dam.
Interestingly, the release of water from the Siruvani dam resulted in Tamil Nadu expressing its readiness for talks. Moreover, at the meeting of the Water Resources Ministers of the southern states held in Hyderabad on February 20, Minister Mathew T Thomas brought up the issue of Tamil Nadu’s failure to honour the undertaking given by it. Significantly, Union Minister of State for Water Resources Arjun Ram Meghwal also endorsed Kerala’s stand.
“The Kerala side informed Tamil Nadu it will hold talks only after it releases water from the Aliyar dam into the Chitturpuzha. Therefore, on Sunday Tamil Nadu released 400 cusecs of water and the meeting between the officers of the two States was held on Monday. It was pointed out the Parambikulam dam had 1.5 tmc of water and the Upper Aliyar and Kadambara dams together had 2.5 tmc of water which can be released into the Aliyar dam and from there into the Chitturpuzha,” said Sudheer.
Earlier, after Tamil Nadu had reneged on the commitment made at the secretary-level talks held in Thiruvananthapuram on January 19, there was great tension on the border.At the meeting held in Thiruvananthapuram, it had been decided 400 cusecs of water will be released from February 1- 15 and a subsequent meeting will be held in Chennai on February 10 to discuss the quantity of water to be released in the second half of February. However, Tamil Nadu stopped the release of water from the Parambikulam-Aliyar dam contrary to its promises citing the agitation by the farmers in Pollachi .