CHENNAI: Retired Chief Engineer of Tamil Nadu Public Works Department and a veteran expert in water issues, A Veerappan has termed the Godavari-Cauvery river linking project being proposed by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, as an ‘unworkable’ idea, given the prevailing situation across the country. Instead, Veerappan has asked Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami to fully focus on implementing irrigation schemes within Tamil Nadu expeditiously to tap surplus water from various water resources.
“By linking these rivers, surplus water would be received only for 20 to 30 days once in four years when there are floods. In the rest of the months, these two rivers would remain dry. Since linking of rivers would affect biodiversity, there would strong opposition to this project from environmentalists and tribals would also be affected. Hence, instead of implementing linking Godavari-Cauvery rivers, it is better to expedite the irrigation schemes within Tamil Nadu,” Veerappan, who is also the president of Tamil Nadu PWD Senior Engineers Association, said in his letter to the chief minister.
He said Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana and Maharashtra would never part with 200 tmc of water to Tamil Nadu at any point of time. The 10 irrigation projects suggested by Veerappan that would meet the water requirements of Tamil Nadu include: Athikadavu-Avinashi project to fortify groundwater table (`950 crore); diverting surplus water from Mettur dam through Sarabanga-Thirumanimuthar-Ayyaru link canal; diverting Pandiyar river in Nilgiris district to Tamil Nadu limits, since this would provide three tmc of water to the State just at a cost of Rs 50 crore; diverting surplus water from Amaravathi river to Vattamalai Karai reservoir in Tiruppur district, diverting surplus water from Varathamanathi river to Nallathangal rivulet and building a check dam across Ayyaru in Kolli hills to get three tmc of water.
CM reviews drinking water distribution
Chennai: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting to review the drinking water distribution across the State, even as complaints about scarcity for drinking water continue to pour in from various places. Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, seven ministers of key departments and their secretaries took part in the meeting and expressed their views to tackle the current situation. Municipal Administration Minister SP Velumani is likely to chair another meeting on Monday. The chief minister is likely to allocate more funds for meeting the water requirements and steps to be taken.