Tamil Nadu farmers demand Kerala govt to stop building check dam across Silandhi river

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu farmers have demanded the Kerala government to stop building a check dam across the Silandhi River, the main source of water for the Amaravati river, which is located on the Tamil Nadu border. Amaravati is the longest tributary of the Cauvery river.

According to reports, the Kerala government is constructing a check dam across the Silandhi river at Peruguda under the limits of Vattavada village panchayat in Devikulam taluk of Idukki in Kerala. The move has triggered concerns among experts and Tamil Nadu leaders who have contended that the dam could hinder water flow to the Amaravati dam and lead to water scarcity in Tamil Nadu. Locals in the area claimed that the check dam was being built for a proposed water treatment plant in the area.

The Amaravati dam was constructed in 1958 in the Western Ghats, at Amaravatinagar, close to Udumalaipet, in the Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary of Tirupur district in Tamil Nadu, and serves as a source of irrigation for 55,000 acre of farmland in Tiruppur and Karur districts.

The Silandhi river is a tributary of the Thenar river, which merges with the Amaravati river that originates in the western slopes of Munnar. The Amaravati river drains into the Cauvery river at Thirumukudal near Mayanur in Kerala.

Farmers in the state have demanded the government to negotiate with the Kerala government and stop the construction of the check dam project. Additionally, action needs to be taken to remove the ongoing development, they urged, adding that they would lead a protest soon.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami in a social media post demanded Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin to “wake up from slumber” and take appropriate legal measures to safeguard the state’s rights over the inter-state river.