VELLORE: A group of activists, farmers and media persons of Vellore district who visited the upper Palar basin in Chittoor district in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh State on Saturday have learned that the AP government is raising the height of existing check dams across the Palar and its tributaries. In addition, construction of new check dams across the two tributaries of Palar near Kuppam have also come to light.
A C Venkatesan, president of the Vaniyambadi based Palar Protection Movement who was part of the group told Express that the heights of three more check dams have been increased while work on two more have begun. According to him, the existing check dams across the Palar river at Kangunthi, some 15 km from Pullur in the upstream of the river was increased to a height of 21 feet from six at an estimated cost of `2 crore and the construction work was completed a couple of weeks back. Another check dam at Giddiganipenta has also been increased to 25 feet. Construction materials have been pooled at the check dam site at Bogalrevu village deep inside the thick Punganur forest range where the plan is to increase the height from six feet to 21 feet. He said that enquiries at Peddavenga village where the work for the construction of a new check dam work has begun, revealed that the AP government has already finalized the tender for the construction of five check dams across the Palar tributaries of Deprevu, Pavalenka in the Veeramalai forest area along the river streams which descend from the hills and the earthen revetment work has started. New canals are also being formed to divert the excess water from the check dams to nearby irrigation tanks, he added.
“If the AP government goes ahead blocking every drop of water from Palar just because it was flowing through their territory, the downstream basin in Tamilnadu will turn into a desert,” he pointed out adding, “We have failed to stop the work at Pullur on the State border and this has encouraged the neighbour to go full steam raising the height of the existing check dams and construction of new ones too in the upstream.
Venkatesan said that the AP government was violating the 1892 agreement and the Supreme court directions on inter-state river water-sharing norms. “While the AP government has constructed 22 check dams so far across the 36 km stretch of the Palar river which flows through the State, now they are not going to leave even the tributaries that descend from the hills to drain into TN,” he said.
District secretary of the Tamilnadu Vivasayigal Sangam (affiliated to the All India Kisan Sabha) R Mullai said that when TN was busy with the State Assembly elections, the AP government went ahead silently implementing its plan unnoticed. The Palar basin is vital to the irrigation needs of over 4.5 lakh acres of lands in Vellore district and the drinking water needs of over one crore people of northern districts.
The river also meets the requirements of the Kalpakkam power plant and the railways. The Chief minister should take immediate steps not only to stop the ongoing works but also remove all check dams, he added.