Water flowing west wasted
Tamil Nadu's finance and PWD minister O. Panneerselvam
Chennai: Tamil Nadu's finance and PWD minister O. Panneerselvam on Monday urged the central government to start the work immediately on the interlinking the peninsular rivers.
Addressing the fifth meeting of the special committee for interlinking of rivers held in New Delhi, he pointed out that Tamil Nadu's long standing demand for diversion of about 22 TMC ft of water from the west flowing rivers of Pamba and Achankovil to Vaippar Basin in Tamil Nadu is yet to materialise. Panneerselvam demanded that the committee implement its suggestion of holding talks with neighboring Kerala on the issue.
“The feasibility of the project has already been established. But the Union ministry is yet to convene a meeting on the subject. It is our view, that the link has to be established expeditiously without further delay since the surplus water of these two rivers is flowing into the Arabian Sea, which could be optimally utilised in the water stressed southern districts of Tamil Nadu”, Panneerselvam said.
The Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Pamba-Achankovil-Vaippar link should be prepared on a priority basis and the Tamil Nadu government has programmed to implement the linking of rivers within the state. Under the proposal, rivers including Pennaiyar (Sathanur Dam) - Palar, Pennaiyar (Nedungal Anicut) - Palar, Cauvery (Mettur Dam) -Sarabanga, Athikadavu - Avinashi - Thamirabarani - Karumeniyar - Nambiyar will be linked. The state has asked for financial assistance from the Centre. While the previous government failed to release the funds, the Centre should now sanction financial assistance for the projects. The sanctioned assistance will also include cost of land acquisition, the PWD minister said.
In 2003, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had urged the then chairman of the task force formed for interlinking of rivers to expedite the interlinking of rivers through necessary legislation. This linkage should be given the highest priority to implement the Supreme Court order in letter and spirit, Panneerselvam urged.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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