Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Sunday urged Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to intervene and maintain the Siruvani dam’s storage at full reservoir level in future to meet the water needs of Coimbatore and its suburbs.
In a letter to Mr. Vijayan, he said, “In view of the water scarcity in the city, I look forward to a positive response in this regard.” A copy of the letter was released to the media.
Stalin said that the irrigation department of Kerala is maintaining the maximum water level at 877.00 meters instead of the full reservoir level of 878.50 meters prescribed in the inter-state agreement. Reducing the level by 1.5 meters has resulted in a reduction of 19% of the total storage to 122.05 million cubic feet (mc ft), he said. “This creates difficulties in meeting the needs of Coimbatore city during the summer months,” he said.
Mr Stalin said the state had received water only in the range of 0.484 tmc ft to 1.128 tmc ft in the last six years, as against the 1.30 tmc ft prescribed in the agreement. “Our team is continuously requesting the officials on your behalf to take necessary steps to restore the storage to full reservoir level. I have personally written to you on this issue as well. However, so far no step has been taken by the Kerala Irrigation Department to restore the storage at full reservoir level,” he said.