Chennai: Taking strong exception to Kerala’s move to construct a dam across the Siruvani river at Attapadi, AIADMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to “advise Kerala not to go ahead with its proposed move.”
In a letter to the Prime Minister, copies of which were released to the media here, Ms Jayalalithaa also urged Dr Singh to advise the Central Water Commission not to accord technical clearance to the project.
Noting that Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka have filed clarification petitions before the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and also before the Supreme Court against the Final order of the Tribunal, she said no new schemes in the Cauvery basin should be initiated till the matter was resolved.
“Therefore, the present proposal of Kerala is in violation of the Final Order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal,” she added.
The Chief Minister said disconcerting reports were appearing in the media about the Kerala government’s plan to construct a dam across the Siruvani river at Attapadi.
Ms Jayalalithaa said Kerala’s move to build a dam of 4.5 TMC ft capacity on the river for the Attapadi Irrigation Scheme has caused concern among the people of Tamil Nadu as the inflows into the river Bhavani would be considerably reduced if Kerala goes through with its plan.
“There is apprehension among the people that the entire city of Coimbatore and its adjoining areas, dependent on Siruvani for their drinking water needs, will be totally affected if Kerala is allowed to build the dam,” she noted.
Ms Jayalalithaa said Kerala had protested against this issue before the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal claiming 4.5 TMC ft of water for the Attapadi Irrigation Scheme.
The Tamil Nadu government objected to the claim and the Tribunal in its Final Order of February 5, 2007 has allocated only 2.87 TMC ft of water to Kerala for the Attapadi Irrigation Scheme.
“Therefore, the present proposal of Kerala is in violation of the Final Order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal,” she added.
Ms Jayalalithaa pointed out that the Kerala and Karnataka governments have appealed in the Supreme Court against the Final Order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.
The Tamil Nadu government has also approached the apex court on certain aspects of the Tribunal’s Final Order.
“All the Party States have also filed clarification petitions before the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal under section 5(3) of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 and these petitions are pending,” she added.
“In these circumstances, it is only proper for the party states to await either the notification of the Final Order or the judicial decisions before initiating any new scheme in the Cauvery Basin or in its sub basins,” she said and sought the Prime Minister’s intervention on the issue to protect state’s interests on the issue. (UNI)