PALAKKAD: Successive governments of Kerala were indirectly helping Tamil Nadu by not utilising the 6 TMC of water awarded by the Cauvery Tribunal which could be utilised to irrigate the barren lands of Attappadi. This largesse has been extended even when the Tamil Nadu government was accusing the state of trying to deny it water by constructing a new dam at Mullaperiyar. The unutilised water from the Siruvani river flows into the Bhavani river and from there flows eastwards to Tamil Nadu.Water Resources Minister P J Joseph had said, both in the Assembly and also at a function at Mannarkad two days ago, that he would be reviving the Attappadi Valley Irrigation Project (AVIP). He said that necessary provisions would be made in the coming state budget. Earlier, the project was put on hold after the advisory committee of the Planning Commission had observed that the concurrence of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, who were part of the Cauvery basin, has not been received for utilising the waters. Moreover, the Madhava Menon Committee report also called for surrendering back the land without going into the technical details of the project.It was in 2005 that Kerala was awarded 34 TMC of water by the Cauvery Tribunal, of which 6 TMC was for the AVIP but the project is still in limbo.The state government has gone far ahead in building a dam at Chittur in Attappadi ever since the AVIP was mooted in the early 70s. A total of 293 hectares of land was acquired. The clearance for another 75 hectares of forest land needed to be got and around 13 hectares of private land need to be taken. “The building of a dam could help irrigate 4,900 hectares of land in eastern Attappadi and also satisfy the potable water needs of three villages. The completion of the project could help produce 3 MW of hydro-electric power,” says Raveendran, executive engineer of the Water Resources Department in charge of AVIP.“The dam proposed to be built in Chittoor of Attappadi could be constructed at a cost of `560 crore. Since power could be produced, the KSEB could be a part of the project. If funds are allotted on time, the construction of the dam can be completed in four years,” says Raveendran. “Even if a checkdam was built at Mukkali in Attappadi to utilise the waters of the Bhavani, we would have been able to utilise some of the waters allotted by the Cauvery Tribunal,” says Socialist Janata (Democratic) state secretary-general K Krishnankutty.“Tamil Nadu has built dams in every area possible - be it the Siruvani dam or the lower Bhavani dam where it uses water not only for irrigation but also to generate power. But Kerala is unable to use its own resources,” says Murugan of Pudur who demanded that the AVIP be implemented by the state government so that the people of Kerala benefited.
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