Kerala releases Siruvani dam water a day after Stalin's letter

COIMBATORE: A day after Chief Minister MK Stalin wrote to his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi K Vijayan requesting him to maintain water level in Siruvani dam at full capacity, Kerala on Monday released additional water to cater to drinking water needs of Coimbatore.

Siruvani dam is the prime source of water for Coimbatore city. Of the total requirement of 265 MLD, 101.40 MD is drawn from Siruvani dam.

On 19 August 1973, Tamil Nadu and Kerala signed a pact as per which Kerala will supply 1.30 TMC annually (1 July - 30 June) to the erstwhile Coimbatore Municipal Town for a period of 99 years.

In his letter, Stalin stated that Tamil Nadu , in the last six years, received around 0.484 to 1.128 TMC, as against the 1.30 TMC stipulated in the agreement. "The Kerala irrigation department is maintaining the maximum water level of Siruvani dam at 877.00m instead of the Full Reservoir Level (FRL) at 878.50m as stipulated in the interstate agreement. Lowering the water level by 1.5m results in a shortage of 122.05 MCFT of water, which is 19% of the total storage. This creates difficulties in catering to the needs of Coimbatore city in the summer months," he stated.

An official from TWAD board informed TNIE that Kerala released additional water and that Kerala officials informed them about the directions they had received from their Chief Minister.

"Until yesterday (Sunday), Tamil Nadu received 48 to 50 MLD of water. But today (Monday), we have been receiving the full quota of 101.4 MLD of water from Siruvani. Considering the current water level in the Siruvani dam and the volume of water released, we will be able to receive water for the next 40 days. With the SW monsoon beginning in Kerala, we expect the water level in the dam to increase gradually," the official added.

CCMC Commissioner M Prathap took the Siruvai water supply shortage issue to the notice of Municipal Administration and Water Supply minister KN Nehru during his visit to Coimbatore last week who took it up with the Chief Minister.  Prathap said, "With increased water release, the water supply frequency will now be cut short from 15 days to 7 days in Coimbatore. Also the leakages in the Siruvani pipelines are being fixed now to sort out the distribution problems."