Kerala, TN reach accord on Parambikulam-Aliyar water

At a time when Tamil Nadu is locked in a legal battle with Karnataka over sharing of Cauvery water, on Tuesday it reached an amicable settlement with its other neighbour Kerala over sharing of water under the Parambikulam-Aliyar Project (PAP) by evolving a mutually acceptable formula.

As per the agreement reached during a meeting of officials of the two States here, Tamil Nadu would release 1,250 mcft of water from October 16 to December 15 to Chittur and Palakkad regions.

Kerala had initially sought the release of 1,340 mcft of water during the period as enshrined in the PAP Agreement but relented to accept a lesser quantum of

water under the distress-sharing formula, a Tamil Nadu Public Works Department (PWD) official told Express.

“We discussed the shortage of rainfall during the southwest monsoon and the current water level in the catchment areas.

Considering the shortfall in rain, we informed Kerala that we would release 1,250 mcft of water to which Kerala agreed,” said K Ranganathan, Chief Engineer, PWD - Water Resources Department (Coimbatore Region).

“We will be meeting again in the first week of December to decide on water-sharing for the subsequent periods,” a PWD official said.

Last year, as per the PAP agreement, 12.5 tmcft of water was released to Kerala. The officials also discussed other related issues between the states.

The PAP Joint Water Regulation Board meets every six months to discuss water-sharing between the two neighbours.

Tuesday’s Board meeting was attended by Ranganathan, Tamil Nadu Electricity Board Chief Engineer Krishnasamy, Kerala Water Resources Department Chief Engineer P Lathika and Kerala State Electricity Board Chief Engineer Viswanathan Nair, besides around 30 engineers from both the states.