Stalin requests Pinarayi Vijayan to ensure full storage in Siruvani dam, increase supply

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday urged his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan to ensure Full Reservoir Level storage of 878.50 m in Siruvani Dam and increase water supply from the reservoir to Tamil Nadu, to meet the level of 101.40 Million Litres per Day (MLD).

For the past three years, inspite of adequate rainfall in the Siruvani catchment, the Kerala irrigation department is maintaining the storage level in Siruvani Dam at only 877.0 m instead of the Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 878.50 m, Stalin said in a letter to Vijayan. Siruvani dam is a prime source of water supply to Coimbatore city.

Presently, out of the total water requirement of 265 MLD for Coimbatore Corporation, 101.4 MLD is to be supplied with Siruvani dam as source, he said.

An agreement for the Siruvani dam project was entered into between Tamil Nadu and Kerala on August 19, 1973 for the supply of water not exceeding 1.30 TMC annually (July 1 to June 30) to Coimbatore for drinking water purpose for 99 years.

Though the agreement provides for supply of water upto 1.30 TMC,the actual supply is far less than that. Over the past six years Tamil Nadu has received water ranging from 0.484 TMC to 1.128 TMC only.

Kerala is maintaining the storage level in Siruvani Dam at only 877.0 m. ''Due to lowering of water level by 1.50m, only 528 mcft of water could be stored against the capacity of 650 mcft resulting in a storage loss of 122 mcft (19 per cent of total storage). Consequently only about 85 MLD of water could be supplied from the scheme as against 101.40 MLD.'' Despite repeated requests, the Kerala irrigation department has not taken any steps to maintain the storage level of Siruvani dam upto its Full Reservoir Level of 878.50 m. If storage of water to its full capacity is not maintained, the Coimbatore Corporation and its adjoining areas, depending on Siruvani water, would be affected severely during the ensuing summer.

''I solicit your personal attention and intervention in the matter and urge you to direct the authorities concerned to maintain the storage of Siruvani dam upto its FRL that is 878.50m in future, so as to provide uninterrupted water supply to Coimbatore Corporation and other beneficiaries of the project.'' ''I also request you to kindly direct the concerned officials to increase the water supply from Siruvani dam to enable supply of 101.40 MLD. I look forward to a positive response in the matter,'' Stalin added.