Tamil Nadu: Vaippar's lost perennial dream

VIRUDHUNAGAR: In the vast dusty plains of Sattur-Vembakottai-Sivakasi region, queuing up in front of tanker lorries for a pot of drinking water is part of daily life. The tanker operators charge anywhere between Rs 10-8 for a pot, meaning an average household spends Rs 50- Rs 60 daily on drinking water alone, a small fortune for the inhabitants.

But has it always been so? Those familiar with The New Indian Express' water series might recall how Vaippar, nourished by its tributaries, supported the entire drinking and irrigation needs of the region once, until human greed stabbed her in the back. In this second part of the series, The New Indian Express looks at one of Vaippar’s esoteric tributaries and a 300-years-old chapter in history.

The story begins in 1720 when the region was under the vice grip of severe drought and subsequent famine. The zamins along River Nitcheba, a non-perennial tributary of Vaippar, held an urgent meeting, chaired by the prominent Seithur Zamin. During the meeting it was decided to dispatch an expedition westwards to find the origin of Nitcheba. The explorers traced the river’s origin to a hill in the border regions of the erstwhile Tiruvithamkoor samasthanam, said Rajaram, an activist with Shenbagavalli Nadhineer Meetpu Kuzhu (Shenbagavalli river water retrieval committee).

The expedition found that Nitcheba branched off near its origin, with one rivulet merging with Periyar. If this divergent stream could be reunited with Nitcheba, it would deposit copious water in the Vaippar, which could then meet the needs of Sattur-Vembakottai-Sivakasi region.  

Consequently, in 1733, the Seithur Zamin entered into an agreement with Tiruvithamkoor to build a check dam at Shenbagavalli estate to bring this vain of water to Nitcheba. "The canal through which this water was brought to the Tamil regions is called Kanniyamadhagu canal," Rajaram added.

"Though the entire check-dam and the canal was in Tiruvithamkoor that time, the dam and canal parts of it came under Tamil Nadu limits after the State reorganisation", said advocate Paulraj, publisher of Shenbagavalli Dam: Marukkapatta Urimaiyum, Maraikkapatta Varalarum (Shenbagavalli Dam: Denied Rights and Hidden History) by Kuvalai R Perumalsamy. 

"Nonetheless, the path through which we can access the Kanniyamadhagu canal is in Kerala," he added. 

"The canal had been constructed in such a way that it has the hill to one side and a stone wall to the other. In 1951, an 18 ft long and 12 ft high portion of the stone wall broke. It was rebuilt between 1959-1963 during chief minister K Kamaraj's period, but it broke again in 1982," said Rajaram. 

"Despite repeated letters, petitions, and cases in the Madras High Court and its Madurai Bench since then, the Kerala government hasn't allowed us to repair the wall. They say if we divert the water again, it might disturb wildlife. Notably, the water is not being used anywhere and flows to the Arabian Sea. When the agreement was mentioned, Kerala government said it is not valid anymore," says Paulraj.

According to TWAD board data accessed by The New Indian Express, most of Virudhunagar's 126.7 Million Litre per Day (MLD) water requirement is met by the Thamirabharani water project. This requirement, however, has now risen after the Jal Jeevan Mission increased water requirement from 40 LPC (Litre Per Capita) to 55. This extra 15 litres per person will also be sourced from Thamirabharani, putting extra pressure on the resource, according to officials.

The Irukkangudi dam, the main reservoir for Vaippar water, has a capacity of 499.50 Million Cubic Feet (MCFT), of which 1.44 million cubic metre is said to be for drinking water supply. "Based on the calculation of 135 LPCD (Litre Per Capita per Day), 29,223 individuals can be provided with drinking water using this dam," the official said. 

This, however, is possible only if Vaippar starts flowing again, the official added. "Notably, a local water supply scheme based on Vaippar, which once supplied water to 699 habitations, is now merged with the Thamirabharani project for want of water in the Vaippar," TWAD officials said. Further, the Vembakottai dam, which has the capacity to hold 398.7 MCFT, is completely dry now. "Now, borewells are used to supply drinking water to Sivakasi," they added.

Muthuganesan, another activist, said if only a few metres of the canal wall is rebuilt, the entire region and parts of Tenkasi and Thoothukudi districts can reduce their dependence on  Thamirabharani.