Prashant Mavani, is an expert in current affairs analysis and holds a MSc in Management from University of Surrey (U.K.). Above all he is a passionate teacher.

Water a scarce resource

India and Water

• We use more ground water than USA and China combined.

• We have 17% of world population and just 4% of surface water.

• Climate Change is making rainfall more erratic.

• Around 60% of our population is engaged with agriculture• Huge heads

• More votes

• Hot topic for politics

• In some parts of our country we face flood at the same time many partssuffers from drought

Mullaperiyar Dam

History• Dam Location: Idukki (Kerala)• Mullaperiyar Dam is a masonry dam and was

constructed pursuant to the Periyar Lake LeaseAgreement of October 29, 1886 across thePeriyar river.

• The construction continued for about 8 years andwas completed in 1895.

• A lease deed was signed between Travancore(now Kerala) and the British Presidency ofMadras, which gave the British right to divert allwater of Mullaperiyar to the Madras Presidencynow Tamil Nadu for 999 years.

• Accordingly, Tamil Nadu has been owned andoperating the dam.

• Specifications: Length 1200 feet and top of thedam is 155 feet.

Events from 1970s

• 1970 Governments of Kerala and Tamil Nadu ratified this agreement.

• In mid-70s, Kerala became worried about leakage from the dam and wantedTamil Nadu to repair it.

• Kerala govt. communicated with Union.

• Union government directed Tamil Nadu state government to repair this dam.• Keep water level in the dam at 145 feet.

• Union believed there is no longer any danger to the structure.

• 2006: Supreme Court allowed Tamil Nadu to raise water height to 152 feetafter strengthening the dam.

• But Kerala passed a law the Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation(Amendment) Act, 2006, to prevent the neighbouring State (TN) from raisingthe water level beyond 136 feet.

• Tamil Nadu challenged Kerala’s dam height law in Supreme Court.

Supreme Court’s Verdict

• 7 May 2014: Supreme Court said that the 120 year old dam was safe.

• It allowed Tamil Nadu to raise the water level to 142 feet and ultimately to 152 feet after completion of strengthening measures on the dam.

• Tamil Nadu to maintain the dam

• Security of dam will be maintained by Kerala

• Kerala requests Apex Court for clarification on its verdict.• Kerala argued that the water storage should not be increased to 142 feet until all the 13

spill over gates of the dam were operational.

• SC said do not interfere with the judgement of the Constitution Bench.

Events in 2017

• 14th July 2017: Tamil Nadu has alleged that its officials were not being allowed to perform the maintenance of the dam.

• Kerala, in its reply to the execution petition, had denied all allegations.

• Tamil Nadu asked Supreme Court to deploy CISF for the security of the dam• The apex court had rapped the Tamil Nadu government, saying there cannot be a

“perennial ‘amrit dhara’ kind of litigation”, forcing the state to withdraw it.

25 May 2017

• Tamil Nadu DyCM O Panneerselvam released water from Mullaperiyar damto irrigate 14,707 acres of paddy cultivation in Cumbum valley.• 200 cusecs of water will be released for a period of 120 days to carry out cultivation.

• The farmers of this area were demanding for the release of water for thelongest time.

• Based on the request of PWD and recommendation of districtadministration, water was released.

• On this occasion, PWD has asked and requested all farmers to judiciously usethe water.

• The Tamil Nadu government said that it plans to increase the water level inthe Mullaperiyar dam to 152 feet.

• Kerala raised a flag after a fresh leak was spotted on the centenariandam.

Experts’ view• Experts have strongly objected to the demand of Tamil

Nadu.• The International Dam Safety Authority (IDSA) gives a

lifespan of 70 years for a dam• Water level should be brought down periodically after the

span of 70 years.

• Geologist Dr A.V. George. "It would make the damweaker and in case of the occurrence of an earthquakethe security of the dam will be again under threat.“

• National Centre for Earth Science Studies and theIndian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee, say thedam cannot withstand an earthquake of more than 5.5on the Ritcher scale especially if the water level isabove 125 feet.

• The earthquake occurred at Adukkam near Erattupettaon 2000 December 29, and January 7 had recorded5.2 and 4.8.

Koel Reservoir Project

• The North Koel river is a tributary of Sone, which, in turn, is a tributary of the Ganga.

• Originating near Ranchi, it meets Sone in Haidernagar block of Palamu, travelling a distance of 260 km. • It is a rain-fed river.

• In the works since the 1970s, the interstate North Koel Reservoir Project was halted by the environment ministry in 2006 for want of required information from the state government.

• Picture provides a detail of work done so far

• When it was planned in the late 1970s, none of the major environmental acts was in effect and nor was the tiger reserve notified.

• 2015: Then MoEF Mr. Prakash Javdekar said that • This project is ready for years now

• Since 22 years, farmers have been deprived of water for irrigation• I have seen the site and met the MPs of the area and we will find some way to get water to the

farmers

• Meeting at January 2015• MoEF• Officials from Bihar and Jharkhand• The National Tiger Conservation Authority• The forest department• Other stakeholders

It was highlighted that new environmental laws are the hurdles

• Early Project Plan• The project on the North Koel river consists of a 67.86 metre high Kutku Dam at Mandal in

Latehar district of Jharkhand and a barrage about 100 km downstream at Mohammadganj. It is expected to irrigate about 1.5 lakh hectares of agricultural land in Gaya and Aurangabaddistricts of Bihar and Palamau district in Jharkhand.

Aug 2017• The North Koel Reservoir irrigation project, is likely to reach completion with the

Union Cabinet allocating Rs 1,622 crore for the purpose.

• The Cabinet clearance was given after the matter was cleared at all levels including• The Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court• The Ministry of Environment and Forest

• The allocated amount will be utilised over 3 years. • Thanking the Prime Minister, Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das said the

project would be completed in about 30 months i.e from Aug 2017.• The breakthrough

• Came with the concerned agencies agreeing to reduce the Full Reservoir Level (FRL) from a proposed 367 metres to 341 metres in order to save large swathes of the PalamauTiger Reserve (PTR) from submergence.

• This had been the stumbling block for the project since 1993.

• The project will now have a decreased irrigation potential (IP), while the power generation component has been done away with.

• The problem with the earlier proposal of having FRL of 367 metres was that it would have led to submergence of nearly 6,000 ha of PTR, including its core areas.

• PTR is a protected area and the first tiger reserve in the country.

• So the forest department had objected and the matter remained unresolved since then.

• Now, it has been decided that the FRL will be 341 metres.

• This will lead to submergence of only 1,000 ha of PTR — that too in non-core areas.

• The number of villages affected due to submergence will come down from 13 to 8.

• The number of tigers at Palamau has been dwindling and there are only five or six left, the official said. Some believe it may be because of the reduced water resources within the reserve. The North Koel project could actually take care of that, the official said.

• The basic infrastructure for the project is in place. • The Mangal dam, in Latehar district, has already been constructed with a height of

67.86 metres and width of 343.33 metres. • A barrage in Mohammadganj, 100 km downstream in Hussainabad block of Palamu

district, on the same river has also been constructed.

• The gates at Mandal Dam were not installed. • Now it won’t be needed, because of the lowered FRL.

• We will use the irrigation slippages, already existing at the lower levels, to regulate the flow. The barrage is ready at Mohammadganj, but we will construct distributaries to take the water to interior villages,” said Ashok Kumar, Chief Engineer (Jharkhand Water Resources Department).

• Palamu and Garhwa, which have traditionally faced problems of less rain, are likely to benefit from the project.

• The compensation and rehabilitation packages — in the form of cash payment, plots or money to purchase land etc — for the project have been completed in phases, said officials.

• Sources said that the affected people in 15 villages continue to live there. They will have to be requested to leave for the project to become functional.

Shahpur Kandi dam

• Location: Gurdaspur (Punjab)

• River: Ravi

• Benefits: a) irrigation facility to 5000 hectares of land in Punjab

b) 32173 hectares in J&K

c) generation of 206 MW

• Specifications: 55.5-metre

• Construction started: May 1999

• Halt: 2014 due to dispute between Punjab and J&K.

• The project comes under the Indus Water Treaty.

• Under the IWT, signed between the two countries in 1960, the waters of eastern rivers are allocated to India.

• Though India is under obligation to let the waters of the western rivers (Indus, Jhelum and Chenab) flow, it is permitted to construct storage of water on western rivers up to 3.6 million acre feet (MAF) for various purposes, including domestic use.

• India has, however, not developed any storage facility so far.

• India has also not tapped its full quota of water for irrigation under the Treaty.

• Looking at full exploitation of its rights under the IWT with Pakistan, a high-level inter-ministerial task force had in December last year decided to bring Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir on board for speeding up work on the ground through better co-ordination.• This decision of India is triggered by the Uri Terror Attack

• The move to resume work will give a boost to the country's strategy to utilise its entire share of waters under the Indus Water Treaty (IWT).

• Accordingly, both the states agreed to resume works on Shahpur Kandi Dam project.

• The agreement to this effect was signed by KS Pannu, irrigation secretary of Punjab and his J&K counterpart Saurabh Bhagat in the presence of Union water resources secretary Amarjit Singh.

• The project will be built with an estimated cost of Rs 2285.81 crore (April, 2008 price level).

• Though it would be constructed as per agreed design, a model study will concurrently be done to ensure that the mandated share of 1150 cusecs of water is available to J&K, which will be binding on both the States.

• The project will continue to be implemented by the government of Punjab.

• However, there will be a tripartite team headed by member, CWC and consisting of chief engineers of two states to monitor the project as and when required or at least once in three months to ensure that the construction is completed as per the agreement.

Jamrani Dam

• Envisaged: 1975• Location: Nainital (Uttarakhand)• Specification: 130 meter• Type: Multipurpose dam• River: Gola• Benefits: a) irrigation facilities in 47,607 hectare farm area of Uttar Pradesh

b) 9,458 hectare farm area of Uttarakhandc) Haldwani and Nainital (U’khand) will get drinking waterd) Bijnor and Rampur (U.P.) will get drinking water

• Since 1975, as per a report, 178 workers, 13 engineers and Rs 400 crore has beenspent after this project, but then as well, not a single stone has been laid.

• Since Uttarakhand’s formation in 2000, many properties in the hill state haveremained under the control of Uttar Pradesh.

• The dam was sanctioned, but its construction could not be started due to variousreasons.

• 2015: Steps for finally resolving the matter between UP and Uttarakhand began

April 2017

• 2017: BJP-led governments at the helm of affairs in both Uttarakhand andUP, the matter is ambling towards a final solution.

• The Uttarakhand state government was on the verge of signing the MoU withthe Uttar Pradesh government for starting construction on the Jamranimultipurpose irrigation dam project within a month.

“What ever differences the two states had over the years on the issue havebeen ironed out. During the meeting of Chief Minister TS Rawat with his UPcounterpart in Lucknow in early April 2017, it has been decided to expeditethe matter. The entire formalities will be completed within a month,” saidOm Prakash, Additional Chief Secretary, Uttarakhand.

• The total cost of the project is Rs 2,350.56 crore• Uttar Pradesh: 25% cost• Uttarakhand: 75% cost

Aug 2017

• A top irrigation official of Uttarakhand said cost of the project is likely to go up by 15-20% from present Rs.2,351 crore to Rs.2700-2480 crore.

• The Uttar Pradesh government has assured the state that it will soon take a final decision on cost sharing of Jamrani Multipurpose Hydropower Project on Gola river in Nainital.

• The assurance came on during a meeting in Haridwar between Uttarakhand irrigation minister Satpal Maharaj and his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Dharam Pal.

• Satpal Maharaj said: “We had a cordial discussion on Jamrani Power Project. The Uttar Pradesh minister has agreed to our contention that construction of the project must be started as soon as possible as it will help both the states irrigate their vast farm area and provide the needed drinking water to a vast size of population in Uttarakhand. “UP has assured us to ratify the MoUproposal sent by us on Jamrani power project so that project could be started early.”

The End

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