Ker CM should hold talks with TN on water sharing:Cong leader

The Opposition Congress-led UDF in Kerala today said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan should hold talks with his Tamil Nadu counterpart directly to find a solution to the state not getting its due share of water from the Parambikulam Aliyar project.
Opposition leader in the state assembly Ramesh Chennithala attacked the LDF government for its alleged failure in "fruitfully" intervening in the matter.
Despite neighbouring Tamil Nadu "flouting" the water sharing pact by not releasing the state's share from the project, the government had not "fruitfully" intervened, he said in a statement here.
Vijayan should directly hold talks with his Tamil Nadu counterpart to find a solution to the issue immediately, he said.

"Violating" the pact had become a routine matter for Tamil Nadu, he said.
Water was not being released to Kerala and was instead being diverted to Thirumoorthy dam due to which in Chittor, Pattambi and nearby areas hundreds of hectares of farm lands were getting destroyed, Chennithala alleged.

Since Bharatapuzha had dried up, there was a severe drinking water shortage also, he said.
As per the water sharing agreement upto February 15, Kerala should get upto 400 cusescs of water daily. However, only about 100 cusescs was being released now, the congress leader said.
Vijayan had written to his Tamil Nadu counterpart K Palaniswami yesterday, asking him to release the state's share of water immediately as farmers of the Chittor region in Palakkad, who depend mainly on the release of water under the PAP pact, were in distress due to its non-release.