COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore Municipal Corporation
unanimously passed a special resolution against the Kerala government’s
decision to revive a proposal to build a dam on the Siruvani in
Attapadi in Palakkad district. The resolution appealed to the state government
to intervene in the issue and get the Centre to look into the matter.
The council also decided to request chief minister J Jayalalithaa to
ensure that water supply to Coimbatore city is not affected by Kerala’s
move.

“We condemn the move by Kerala government
and seek immediate intervention of the Union government and request our
chief minister to ensure that Kerala government does not go ahead with
the dam construction plan,’ said S M Velusamy, mayor.

The
proposed dam downstream of the Siruvani reservoir but before the stream
joins Bhavani river will address the irrigation needs of the
drought-prone Attapadi region and produce some power, according to
Kerala government. However, there is fear in Tamil Nadu
that it could reduce inflow into the Bhavani, a source of drinking
water for Coimbatore and the lifeline of thousands of farmers in Tirupur
and Erode districts.

The corporation at the emergency meeting
of its council members also passed a resolution seeking approval for the
interlinking of the two main master reservoirs, Ramakrishnapuram Pillur
reservoir and Bharathi Park Siruvani
reservoir. The main objective of the scheme is to ensure that Pillur
water could be diverted to at least 21 corporation wards that often face
water crisis when water level in Siruvani dips due to delay in
rainfall. “We have to ensure that our dependency on Siruvani is reduced
so that we do not face extreme water shortage in summer,” Velusamy said.

As part of the Rs 15-crore project, a 13.5-km long pipeline will be
laid through Maniakarapalayam, Sanganur, Nallampalayam and
Kavundampalayam. As of now 30 mld of water from Pillur II scheme is
supplied to the eastern parts of Coimbatore. After the full scale
implementation of Pillur II project, the corporation is expected to be
able to divert 10 mld of water to the newly-added areas of
Chinnavedampatti, Vellakinar and Kavundampalayam. Since Pillur II is a
dedicated water scheme for Coimbatore corporation, it will not have to
depend on water purchased from the TWAD board. This could help the
corporation save at least Rs 164 lakh annually.