Chennai, June 20 (BPNS)
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin has written to his counterpart, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to maintain the water level at Siruvani dam at the Full reservoir level to maintain the water requirements of Coimbatore and its suburbs.
In the letter written on Sunday, Stalin called on Kerala Chief Minister to provide a positive response as the water shortage in Coimbatore and its surrounding areas are turning into a major problem.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister said that the Kerala irrigation department was maintaining the maximum water level at 877.00m instead of the full reservoir level of 878.50 m as stipulated in the interstate agreement.
Stalin, in the letter pointed out that lowering the water level by 1. 50 m was led to a shortage of 122.05 million cubic feet (mc ft) which was 19% of the total storage of the dam.
He said that this makes it difficult for the water needs of the people of Coimbatore and its adjacent areas. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister also said that in the past six years, the state has received only 0.484tmc ft to 1.128 tmc ft and indicated that this was much lower than 1.30 tmc ft as specified in the interstate agreement.
M.K. Stalin also pointed out that the officials of the Tamil Nadu water resources department had taken up this matter to their counterparts in Kerala but to no avail. He said that he had also written letters to Pinarayi Vijayan earlier also regarding the same and requested the Kerala Chief Minister to intervene in the matter and help Coimbatore overcome its water woes.
It may be noted that the Siruvani dam located in Palakkad district of Kerala across the Siruvani river was constructed by the Kerala Public works department but the funds were made available by the Tamil Nadu government.
The dam was primarily constructed for the supply of drinking water to Coimbatore town which is located 45 km from Siruvani in Palakkad district.
