COIMBATORE: Chief Minister MK Stalin may hold talks with his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan on a host of issues on Friday, including on storage of water in Siruvani and Mullaiperiyar dams, during his two-day visit to the neighbouring State.
According to sources, the CM will reach Thiruvananthapuram on Friday. On Friday evening, Vijayan will call on him. On September 3, Stalin will participate in the 30th Southern Zonal Council meeting in which Union Home Minister Amit Shah and CMs of all southern States will take part.
The Siruvani dam, located inside a reserve forest spanning Kalladikodan and Muthikulam hills in Palakkad district of Kerala, is one of the major drinking water sources of Coimbatore district. After the floods in 2019, Kerala government has been maintaining water level in all its dams below the FRL (full reservoir level).
In Siruvani dam, too, the Kerala irrigation department has been maintaining the water level at 44ft instead of 49.5ft as stipulated in the agreement between Kerala and TN. According to sources, lowering the water level by five feet results in shortage of 122.05 MCFT (million cubic feet) of water, which is 19% of the total storage capacity of the dam. This creates difficulty in fulfilling the water needs of Coimbatore city during summer.
Siruvani: Kovai getting full share from June 20
Presently , out of the total water requirement of 265 MLD (million litres per day) for Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC), 101.40 MLD is sourced from Siruvani dam. As per an agreement signed with Tamil Nadu on August 19, 1973, Kerala had agreed to supply 1.30 TMCFT of water every year (from July 1 to June 30) to the erstwhile Coimbatore Municipal Town for drinking water purpose for 99 years.
A TWAD board official told TNIE that due to continuous showers in Kerala, water level in Siruvani dam has gone up to 43.56ft as of Thursday, and Coimbatore has been receiving its full share of 101.4 MLD of water on a daily basis from June 20, after CM Stalin wrote a letter t o the Kerala government.
“Once the dam crosses 44-ft mark, Kerala irrigation department officials will release water from the dam, citing safety concerns. Palakkad collector has been holding meetings with officials every day in this regard. We have already submitted all reports on the issue to the government and CM will hold discussions regarding storage of water in Siruvani and Mullaiperiyar dams,” TWAD board sources said.
Sources also said the Tamil Nadu government had paid `2 crore of the `8 crore due it has to pay to the Kerala government towards dam maintenance, employees’ salary and other works that were pending due to the pandemic. According to sources, approval sought by Kerala officials for reconstructing hill roads at three places from Coimbatore to the dam is pending with their State government and work will start once they receive the nod.