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Water war

water sharing has always been a bone of contention for the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Now, Tamil Nadu's Adavinainar Kovil dam being constructed in Merkkara, Tirunelveli district has aggravated the ongoing strife.

Merkkara is on the eastern side of the mountain ridge that separates the two states. On the western side is the catchment of the Achankovil river which, along with the Pampa river, is the lifeline of Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha districts in Kerala. The 670-metre-long dam, expected to be commissioned in April 2002, would irrigate 91,400 hectares in Tirunelveli, Tuticorin and Virudhanagar districts of Tamil Nadu.

While Kerala fears that the dam would divert water from its rivers, the project report mentions that only rainwater would be stored in the dam's catchment area. Meanwhile, the leader of the opposition, V S Achuthanandan, has asked the state government to be vigilant against the moves of Tamil Nadu to appropriate the water resources of Kerala. He questioned the need of such a huge dam for collecting rainwater in an area where the annual rainfall is low. "I have strong doubts whether a reservoir of this size is feasible without the diversion of water from the Pamba and Achenkovil rivers in Kerala,' he said.

Kerala apprehends that the dam is in the context of the proposed Pampa- Achankovil-Vaippar Link Project envisaging the diversion of 634 million cubic metres of water across the state border to irrigate 91,400 hectares of land in Tirunelveli, Tuticorin and Virudhunagar districts of Tamil Nadu. Kerala has strong objections against this project recommended by the National Water Development Agency (nwda).

Kerala irrigation minister, T M Jacob, has said that the state will not permit diversion of water from any of its rivers to Tamil Nadu by constructing underground tunnels or through some other means. The state government had sent two chief engineers to conduct an inquiry into the type of construction going on in Merkkara. The engineers had informally hinted at the possibility of diverting water by drilling tunnels. The minister said the state government would take up with the Central Water Commission if Tamil Nadu made any attempt to divert water for the Merkkara Dam.

Already there are feuds between Kerala and Tamil Nadu over the Mullaperiyar, Parambikulam-Aliyar and Cauvery waters. "We have had several bad experiences in the past. Kerala's interests have been mortgaged in the Mullaperiyar and Parambikulam-Aliyar agreements. The farmers of Palakkad district are facing drought every year because of the Parambikulam-Aliyar project. And, Tamil Nadu is ruthlessly pressing for raising the reservoir level at Mullaperiyar despite the structural weaknesses of the century-old dam there,' Achuthanandan said.

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