Permit full storage at Siruvani dam: CM Stalin to Kerala

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Sunday urged his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan to maintain the storage of Siruvani Dam upto the full reservoir level of 878.50m in future to help meet the water requirement of Coimbatore city and suburbs.

Drawing Vijayan’s attention to Kerala irrigation department maintaining the maximum water level of Siruvani Dam at 877m, instead of the Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 878.50m as stipulated in the inter-State agreement, Stalin, in his demi official letter to the Kerala CM, said the lowering of water level by 1.50m results in shortage of 122.05 mcft (million cubic feet) of water, which is 19 per cent of the total storage.

Stating that the reduced storage creates difficulties in catering to the needs of Coimbatore city in summer, Stalin said, “Considering the water shortage faced by Coimbatore city, I once again solicit your personal intervention in this matter and urge you to direct the authorities concerned to maintain the storage of Siruvani Dam upto FRL 878.50m in future. Only this step can help us to meet the water requirement of Coimbatore city and its suburbs.”

Pointing out that Siruvani Dam accounts for 101.40 mld (million litres per day) of the total water requirement of 265mld of Coimbatore municipal corporation, Stalin said during the last six years, the State has received only between 0.485 tmcft to 1.123 tmcft, against the 1.30tmcft stipulated in the 1973 agreement.

CM Stalin also added that no steps have been taken so far by the Kerala irrigation department to restore the storage to FRL despite Tamil Nadu requesting officials from Kerala side. CM Stalin had written to Vijayan on the same issue earlier.