Meet with Kerala on water disputes put off by a day

In view of the May Day celebrations in Kerala, a meeting of officials of the Water Resources departments of the Tamil Nadu and Kerala governments, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF & CC) and Central Water Commission (CWC), called to discuss disputes between the neighbouring States, has been put off by a day to May 2.

“The Kerala government has requested for the postponement of the meeting. So, it has been postponed to May 2,” official sources said.

The May 2 meeting in Delhi follows the deliberations on issues raised by the State governments during the Regional Conference of Southern States on Water Resources held in Hyderabad in February.

Replying to a query, the sources said: “Mullaiperiyar is not on the agenda though it is a dispute between these two States.” Besides the review of the bilateral agreement over the Parambikulam Aliyar Project and other issues pertaining to State’s objection to a proposed dam across the Siruvani river near Attapadi, its request for supply of water from the Neyyar and a plea for allowing the State to undertake repairs in the Shenbagavalli Anicut are on the agenda.

Since some proposals are pending before the MoEF & CC, officials from the Ministry would also take part in the meeting, which would be chaired by CWC chief S. Masood Husain.

Water-starved Tamil Nadu has inter-State water disputes with its neighbours and has filed several petitions in the Supreme Court as well as in the National Green Tribunal over these issues.