Thiruvananthapuram: In a historic development, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have decided to review the Parambikulam-Aliyar water sharing agreement, 60 years after it came into existence. The decision was made in a meeting between Tamil Nadu chief minister E Edappadi K Palaniswami and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
Addressing the media jointly with his Tamil Nadu counterpart, Vijayan said, “The Parambikulam-Aliyar agreement is 60 years old and we have decided to review it. A secretary level committee consisting of five people from each state will be formed. Technical expertise will also be provided.”
Palaniswami was accompanied by Municipal Administration and Rural Development Minister S.P. Velumani, Deputy Speaker V. Jayaraman, Chief Secretary K. Shanmugam and senior officials
According to the agreed arrangement, the members of the committee and the venue of the meeting date will be decided in a week.
The Chief Secretaries of both the states will convene meetings and review the progress once in six months, Vijayan added.
The Parambikulam-Aliyar Project provides water for drinking and irrigation in Coimbatore, Tlruppur and Erode districts of Tamil Nadu and Palakkad in Kerala. The agreement will also look into the diversion and integration of rivers in Anamalaiyar and Nirar-Nallar.
The chief ministers of the two states met after over 15 years to discuss the water sharing agreement. The last meeting was held in 2004 between then chief ministers J Jayalalitha and Oommen Chandy.
The aim of the meeting is to get rid of the differences between the people of the two states over the water resource. “The people of Tamil Nadu and Kerala are like brothers and sisters and so, every issue must be sorted out through discussions,” Vijayan said.
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