CHENNAI: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami will be holding talks with his Kerala counterpart, Pinarayi Vijayan, at Thiruvananthapuram on September 25, regarding the Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP).

“We will have threadbare discussions on all unresolved aspects of PAP during these talks,” a senior official from Tamil Nadu government told Express but declined to divulge the details. Asked whether other water disputes with Kerala would be taken up during the meeting, the official said, “This time, the focus would be on PAP.”  

After a long time, the chief minister-level talks on this issue are taking place, on Wednesday.  Though Pinarayi Vijayan met Palaniswami at Tamil Nadu secretariat on September 21, 2017, he did not discuss this issue then. Prior to that, Vijayan’s predecessor Oommen Chandy held talks with J Jayalalithaa when she was the chief minister in 2004. Since then, only official level talks were taking place between the two States.

The PAP project fulfils drinking water and irrigation requirements in three TN districts – Coimbatore, Tiruppur and Erode, while providing water for irrigation and drinking water needs of certain areas in Palghat in Kerala. Before signing the PAP agreement, the rainwater received in catchment areas in Tamil Nadu, moved westwards and flowed into sea in Kerala. After the PAP agreement was signed, 4.25 lakh acres in Tamil Nadu and 20,000 acres in Kerala have been getting water.

The PAP project came into force in 1962. It was expected that 50.5 tmc of water could be received and of this, 19.55 tmc should be given to Kerala. However, while implementing the secondary projects which are part of the PAP, there have been disputes between Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Efforts to resolve these issues will be taken at the September 25 meeting.