Neyyar Irrigation project not inter-state: Ker to Centre

Kerala today termed as 'erroneous' the stand of Central Water Commission in treating the Neyyar Irrigation Project (NIP) as an inter-state project involving Tamil Nadu, saying it was 'purely an intrastate' scheme.

The state wanted the Centre to rectify the mistake in the information pertaining to NIP published in India-WRISwebsite where in it had been shown as an inter-state project.

This was stated by state Minister for Water Resources Mathew T Thomas in a letter addressed to Union Minister for Water Resources Nitin Gadkari.

"Despite our repeated requests, the Central Water Commission continues to adhere to its erroneous stand in treating NIP as an inter-state project," he said in the letter.
 

Kerala government wanted the Union Minister's intervention in the matter and direct Central Water Commission to rectify its mistake and update the status of the Neyyar Irrigation Project as "a purely intra-state project and not inter-state."

The commissionhad stated that it stands by its views regarding the status of the project and would take necessary appropriate action to revise the status of the Neyyar Project only upon the receipt of comments from Tamil Nadu Government.

He said the CWC's argument that any irrigation project involving sharing of water, benefits and cost was considered as having interstate ramification and thus such projects had to be considered as interstate would not hold good for the NIP.

The Minister also pointed out that there was no sharing of cost for the project between the states of Kerala andTamil Nadu.

"Neyyar is not an inter-state river but purely an intra-state river as the entire length of the river of 56 km from its origin to confluence with the Arabian sea is indisputablywithin the territory of Kerala," he added.

The left bank canal system of the Neyyar Project was taken up as Stage II of the project implementation in 1959. It was fully commissioned in 1976.

The re-organisation of states was carried out in 1956 and no agreement had been executed for the supply of water to Tamil Nadu from NIP, he said pointing out that the command area of the project was entirely within Kerala.