Jayalalithaa wants PM Modi's intervention, seeks withdrawal of proposal to construct dam on Siruvani river

Seeking withdrawal of recommendation made by an Expert Appraisal Committee of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to build a dam on Siruvani river at Attappady, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Saturday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene into the matter.

The recommendation to construct a dam on Siruvani was made by an Expert Appraisal Committee for River Valley and Hydroelectric Projects of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for conducting an Environmental Impact Assessment (EAI) study on the proposal of the Government of Kerala.

In a press release, the Tamil Nadu Government alleged that the proposal was passed without being discussed with them.

According to the state government, Siruvani river is Sub-tributory of Cauvery, which is an inter-state river and building a dam on it for the Attappady Valley Irrigation Project is violation of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal Final Order.

This is the second dam being constructed on Siruvani after 1984.

Meanwhile, the proposal has stoked fear of shortage of drinking and irrigation water in Coimbatore, Erode and Tirupur districts.

On Friday, Ettimadai villagers staged a protest along the Tamil Nadu border, blocking traffic to Kerala, demanding Kerala to scrap the construction of a second dam on the river.

The new dam is proposed to be built downstream the existing reservoir and about 44 km from Coimbatore. The Siruvani dam supplies water to about 28 wards of Coimbatore, consumed by nearly seven-lakh people.