Chennai, Sep 2 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin will meet with his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday in Thiruvananthapuram.The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister is traveling to Kerala to take part in the South Indian Chief Ministers’ conference, which is also at the event is Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The talks between the Chief Ministers of both states will be focused on Siruvani and Mullaperiyar water sharing issues.
In the deep forest in Palakkad district of Kerala The Siruvani dam serves as a significant source of drinking water for inhabitants of Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu.
Notably, following the floods of 2019 in Kerala the water resources department of Kerala has been keeping the levels of water below Full Reservoir Level (FRL).The Kerala irrigation department has maintained the level of water of Siruvani dam at 44 feet since the year the year 2019 instead of 49.5 ft , which is the water level that was agreed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
The reduction of the water level by five feet will result in an insufficient supply of 122.05 millimetres (million cubic feet) which is 19 percent of the capacity for storage of the dam.
The water level in Siruvani dam has increased due to unending rains in the catchment areas of the dam.On Thursday, the water level reached 43.5 feet.Coimbatore gets 101.4 MLD of water from Siruvani.However , once the water levels reach 44 feet the water is released.
Sources in the Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department informed IANS that the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister will discuss the issue with his Kerala counterpart and attempt to convince him of the importance of conserving the FRL of Siruvani dam, so that the drinking water supply for Coimbatore is not affected.
The issue of the Mullaperiyar dam, which is also a contentious issue among Kerala and Tamil Nadu will also come to the table at the discussion between the Chief Ministers of both states.
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