Farmers object to release of water from Aliyar dam to Kerala

Officials here said 450 cusecs of water was being released to Kerala from the dam to meet the immediate irrigation requirements of farmers in the neighbouring state.

The decision to release water was taken after talks between officials of the two states held in the wake of protests by farmers in Kerala in the past few days.

There was tension in the areas bordering the two states in and around Pollachi as vehicles from Tamil Nadu were either stopped or allegedly stoned in the last couple of days by Kerala farmers seeking water from Aliyar dam, which is part of the Parambikulam Aliyar Project.

Later, Kerala allegedly resorted to drawing 'excess' water from Siruvani dam, the main drinking water source of Coimbatore, officials said. Siruvani dam is located in Palakkad district of Kerala.

Protesting the release of water to Kerala from Aliyar dam, farmers and political parties in Pollachi today submitted a memorandum to the sub-collector seeking to stop release of water.

Stating that the storage in the dam was already low, they said if water was released to Kerala it would affect their irrigation needs.

Meanwhile, DMK MLA N Kathik, representing Singanallur constituency in the city, today said a team of officials along with leaders of political parties from Tamil Nadu should be deputed to inspect Siruvani dam to ensure that Kerala was not drawing excess.