Drought alert! Kerala river gets 24x7 police protection
- Police protection has been ensured in 15 check-dams in Bharatapuzha River to avoid plunder and misuse of water.
- The KWA suspects that large plantations are stealthily drawing water from the reservoirs during night.
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Kerala Water Authority has sought police help to nab 'water thieves', for the first time in Kerala. The unprecedented move to keep an eye on water theft from Bharatapuzha River, the second largest river in Kerala, comes in the wake of an imminent drought.
Police protection has been ensured in 15 check-dams in Bharatapuzha River to avoid plunder and misuse of water. The district collector of Palakkad directed the cops to keep round-the-clock vigil at check-dams, water bodies and regulators across the district.
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The KWA sought the support of the district authorities as it found that large plantations and brick kilns were stealthily drawing water during nights. As the ground water level alarmingly going down, the district will have to depend on these storage if the rain gods did not yield. Some of these check-dams may also go dry in a matter of a few weeks if the summer rains failed to replenish the water bodies.
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Ironically, even under threat of an imminent drought, the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) continues to ensure unrestricted water supply to liquor distilleries in Palakkad. Analysing the monsoon precipitation data, experts had warned that Kerala is likely experience severe drought this summer.
