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Coimbatore
Andhra begins to trap Palar river, farmers in northern TN in shock
July 1, 2016
It is not just Cauvery Tamil Nadu has to battle against. In the north, it has Andhra Pradesh to deal with, especially after the government there unilaterally began raising the height of the check dam on rivar Palar that hits drinking water supply to towns in North Tamil Nadu and affects farming in 4.20 lakh hectares.
The check dam height is being raised to 12 feet from the present height of 5 feet, without any warning by the Andhra Pradesh government at Perumballam village, in Chithoor District. This has shocked the farmers of the North Tamil Nadu, for whom the move sounds a certain death knell.
This more than two-fold increase in height of the check dam will hit the state adversely.
The Palar River with its sand strata is the only major source for drinking water supply to several towns and villages in the Northern Districts of Tamil Nadu. Further, water from Palar is also supplied to the Atomic Power Station at Kalpakkam.
Chief minister J Jayalalithaa lodged her strong protest over this unilateral decision by the neighboring state and has asked her counterpart in Andhra Pradesh to intervene in the matter and stop construction forthwith.
She also reminded AP CM N Chandrababu Naidu that Palar River is an inter-State River is one of the Rivers mentioned in Schedule “A” annexed to the Madras-Mysore Agreement, 1892. As per Clause II of the Agreement, the upstream State should not, without the previous consent of the downstream State of Tamil Nadu, build any anaicut or any structure to obstruct, divert or store the waters of the River across any part of the fifteen main rivers, named in Schedule “A” appended to the Agreement.
The TN government has already filed a Suit on 10.2.2006 (OS No.2 of 2006) in the Supreme Court seeking to restrain the Government of Andhra Pradesh from constructing any structure / works across the River Palar or at any other place through which the River Palar and its tributaries flow or impounding / diverting water therein in violation of the Madras-Mysore Agreement, 1892, Jayalalithaa said in a letter to the Andhra Pradesh chief minister.
