PALAKKAD: Tamil Nadu has intimated to Kerala that it has constituted a committee to review the inter-state river water-sharing agreements between the two states. At the meeting held in Thiruvananthapuram on September 25 between Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his Tamil Nadu counterpart Edapaddi K Palaniswamy, it was agreed that both the states will constitute committees after studying various aspects of the renewal of the agreements and submit a report to the government.
“It was agreed that the secretaries of the Water Resources Department of both the states will head the committees and there will be four technical experts in each of the committees. Tamil Nadu has constituted the committee and intimated it to Kerala. Since it was elections in Kerala, it will be constituted soon by the state also,” said Sudheer Padikkal, deputy director of the Joint Water Regulatory Development Board (JWRDB).
The Parambikulam-Aliyar Pact (PAP) was signed in May 1970 with retrospective effect from 1958 for a period of 30 years. Though the agreement lapsed both the states have been following the same conditions. The agreement should have been reviewed twice by this time.
At the chief ministerial meeting, the main issue discussed was the inter-state Parambikulam-Aliyar river water-sharing agreement.The Tamil Nadu government committee constituted to review the PAP comprises of R Subramanian, chairman of the Kavery Technical Cell; PWD retired special chief engineer R Ellangoavan; superintending engineers S Shivalingam and A Munavar Sultana, who are the technical experts.
Aliyar dam
In view of the Northeast Monsoon gaining intensity, the water level in Aliyar dam has reached 1,045 ft.
The maximum storage level is 1,050 feet. It is only when the level reaches 1,048 ft will it be decided whether water should be released or not.
However, as of now, water will not be released, said Padikkal.
When the water is released, it will be done through Chitturpuzha into Kerala which could result in flooding in the Bharathapuzha.
Parambikulam dam
The water level in the Parambikulam dam is still 1.5 ft below the full reservoir level (FRL) which is 1,825 ft. The current water level is only 1,823.5 ft, he added.