Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday wrote to his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan urging him to direct the authorities to ensure that full storage of 878.50 m is maintained at Siruvani Dam. The Chief Minister also insisted on increasing the water supply to the dam for enabling supply of 101.40 MLD.
In a letter, Stalin said, for the past three years in spite of adequate rainfall in Siruvani catchment area the Kerala irrigation department was maintaining the storage level in Siruvani Dam at 877.0m only instead of Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 878.50m.
As a result, 122 mcft of storage loss (19% of storage) was incurred and consequently only about 85 MLD of water could be supplied from the scheme as against 101.40 MLD, he said.
The CM said, "Despite repeated requests, the Kerala Irrigation Department has not taken any steps to maintain the storage level of Siruvani dam upto its FRL of 878.50 m. If FRL is not maintained, the Coimbatore Corporation and its adjoining areas, depending on Siruvani water, would be affected severely during the ensuing summer."
Hence, he said, "I requested your intervention in the matter and urge you to direct the authorities concerned to maintain the storage of Siruvani dam upto its FRL i.e. 878.50m in future, so as to provide uninterrupted water supply to Coimbatore Corporation and other beneficiaries of the project."
The CM also ended the letter with the request to increase the Water Supply from Siruvani dam to enable supply of 101.40 MLD.