A. Harikumar
New Delhi, Dec 16. Kerala’s Attappadi Irrigation Project is among the 21 new dam proposals currently under the appraisal of the Central Water Commission, (CWC) said the minister of state for Jal Shakti, Bishweswar Tudu in Lok Sabha today.
The proposed Attappadi Irrigation Project is a medium sized dam project and so its techno economic viability needs the apprised by the CWC. State government themselves can plan, fund, execute and maintain small dams. The role of the central government is confined to providing technical support and in some cases partial financial assistance in the case of small dams. However, big and medium dams and those involving interstate rivers need to be apprised by the CWC.
Three dam proposals of Karnataka including the Mekedatu Dam are also among the 21 dam proposals being considered by the CWC. There is a dispute between Karntataka and Tamil Nadu regarding Mekedatu Dam across river Cauvery. The dispute is regarding sharing of waters of Cauvery which flows through both the riparian states. Karnataka is planning the dam to meet the drinking water needs of Bengaluru metropolis.
The Attappadi irrigation Project, a medium Irrigation project envisages the construction of a concrete gravity dam across Siruvani river, a tributary of Bhavani river at Chittur in Agali village of Mannarkkad Taluk in Palakkad district of Kerala state. The dam will impound 65 Mm3 (2.29TMC) of the awarded share of water from Bhavani river basin as against the award of 2.87 TMC as per the final order of Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal (CWDT).
There was a dispute between Kerala and Tamil Nadu regarding sharing of waters of Siruvani river. Siruvani is a tributary of river Bhavani which in turn is a tributary of Cauvery. Tamil Nadu has raised opposition against Attappadi dam saying it will affect the flow of water into river Bhavani and will lead to water shortage in Coimbatore city and district. Kerala, however, has rebutted the apprehensions of Tamil Nadu and has clarified that the dam will in no way affect flow of water into Siruvani dam across river Siruvani.
The investigation for Attappadi irrigation project started way back in 1970. However, the CWC’s clearance had not been obtained for the project, for want of final order of CWDT. Due to the non clearance by CWC and paucity of funds, the work relating to project was held up since1989. The final order of CWDT was released on 05.02.2007. In the final order of CWDT, Kerala was awarded 6TMC from the Bhavani river basin and 2.87TMC is specifically awarded to the AVIP dam project. The DPR of the project has been submitted to CWC for approval and now it is being considered.
