A contentious issue between two states

COIMBATORE: Till the early 19th century, only a couple of wells and water bodies catered to the drinking water requirements of people in Coimbatore.

As the city gradually expanded in size, the growing population began to face the heat of water scarcity. “Even then some individuals ventured into the business of selling water drawn from wells and grew rich. It was then the demand for a permanent source of drinking water was felt,” said Rajesh Govindarajulu, a historian.

Tracing down rich history of Siruvani dam, Rajesh said it was SP Narasimhalu Naidu, a Congress member, who travelled widely, who proposed plan to bring water from Siruvani dam through its natural flow of gravity. His dream and vision was fulfilled by the then Coimbatore municipality chairman CS Rathinasabapathy Mudaliar in 1929. It was then people got a taste of the Siruvani water for the first time ever. Water supply was made through around 100 pipelines in Coimbatore city. Since then, the Siruvani water became the lifeline of people and gave an identity to Coimbatore.

“There were times when families travelling outstation carry along Siruvani water in pots to be given to their relatives. On the flip side, people also wasted water by using it for even washing clothes without realising its significance. Only now its value is felt when the water is in scarcity,” he added.

With the dam being located in Kerala and its maintenance by Tamil Nadu, the water-sharing agreement between the two States sent out a strong message of harmony. Nevertheless, this goodwill relationship is gradually going for a toss with the Siruvani dam now becoming a contentious issue between Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

“Despite a huge uproar, works are underway to build the check dams across Siruvani River. Works have almost got over and shutters are being fixed in a check dam, while two more check dams were proposed and materials have been stocked for their construction too,” said K Ramakrishnan, general secretary of Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK). Already, the political parties are irked that the irrigation authorities in Kerala have restrained the water level to 45 feet as against its full reservoir level of 49.50 feet following floods in 2018. “After persistent demands, CM MK Stalin raised the issue with his counterpart in Kerala to raise the water level. Yet, there seems to be no constructive effort by Kerala to increase storage level,” said a TWAD official.

However, the official said that building check dams would not disturb the water inflow into Siruvani dam or impact the water withdrawal, as it is being built only in the outlet channel of the reservoir, where the surplus water overflows. This view was however contended by TPDK, which claimed that the surplus water from Siruvani obviously flows into Pillur dam in Tamil Nadu. “The State should either take the issue of Siruvani to court or to the Cauvery Tribunal to find an amicable solution. Every year, the Siruvani issue is discussed whenever water shortage persists and is conveniently forgotten once rains come,” added Ramakrishnan.

This time, the political parties and social organisations have planned not to give up and keep the issue alive by organising a gherao protest soon on the Kerala border in the coming days.