As drought looms, water disputes strain Kerala-Tamil Nadu relations
- Coimbatore district has been witnessing protests for the past few weeks against the construction of a check dam across Bhavani River
- Hindu Makkal Party blocked vehicles from Kerala in protest over the construction of Pattissery Dam in Idukki.
- Kerala contends that Pattissery Dam is being constructed in place of an old dam which was demolished in 2013.
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If the summer rains failed, Kerala would face a severe drought this year along with its neighbour Tamil Nadu. But the two states won’t share their cup of woes and are unlikely to reach a consensus on a joint management mechanism of water resources, as is evident by the distrust and anger whipped up by political parties on both sides.
Coimbatore district has been witnessing protests for the past few weeks against the construction of a check dam across Bhavani River that flows through Palakkad to Tamil Nadu. Nearly 4,00 protestors marched to Anakkatti near Kerala border on Sunday against the dam construction. The dam, the protesters feared, it would affect the flow of water to Tamil Nadu, and the river would go dry in Summer. Pilloor River would also be left with no water, they said.
When protests were brewing in Coimbatore, Hindu Makkal Party blocked buses from Kerala the other day in Dindigul district against the construction of a small dam in Idukki. What irked the agitators in Dindigul was the propaganda that Kerala was constructing a new dam across Pambar river.
Kerala contends that it is building the dam at Pattissery in place of an old dam which was demolished earlier. The old dam was completely razed in 2013. The new dam under construction is 26 meters high and 136 meters long and is being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs.24 crore.
The construction of the dam was inaugurated in 2014 November and was expected to be completed in a year. But the government dragged its feet fearing protests in Tamil Nadu.
It is widely propagated in Tamil Nadu that the dam is being constructed across Chengalar River, a tributary of Pambar. But the dam, in fact, is planned at Grihanadhapuram in Kanthallur and the water from Mannavan Chola River would be stored here.
As Tamil Nadu is simmering with protests against its neighbour, Kerala also came up alleging that Tamil Nadu is repeatedly violating the Parambikkulam-Aliyar water sharing agreement. As Tamil Nadu did not provide water, Sholayar Dam, one of the major dams in Kerala, is short of its full storage capacity, affecting irrigation and hydropower production. As per the 1970 agreement, Tamil Nadu is supposed to fill the dam every year between February and September.
