Chennai: Chief Minister M K Stalin urged his Andhra Pradesh counterpart, Jagan Mohan Reddy, not to go ahead with his government’s plan to build two reservoirs across the Kosasthalaiyar river near Mukkalakandigai and Katharapalli villages in Chittoor district as it was necessary to take the consent of the lower riparian State to have any construction across an inter-State river.
‘You may be aware that the Kosasthalaiyar river basin and Kosasthalaiyar river are inter-state in nature. The river basin covers a total area of 3727 sq km of which 877 sq km lies in Andhra Pradesh and 2850 sq km lies in Tamil Nadu,’ Stalin said in his letter to Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday.
Since it was learnt that the Government of Andhra Pradesh had approved the construction of the two reservoirs across the Kosasthalaiyar, the move had caused great anguish among the people living in areas in and around Chennai as they depended on the river’s flows for drinking water and to a small extent for irrigation, he said.
The Poondi reservoir, constructed across Kosasthalaiyar, was a vital source of drinking water for Chennai metropolitan area and any new reservoir across the river, its tributaries or sub-tributaries would affect the inflow into it, thus seriously affecting the drinking water supply to Chennai and its upper reaches, besides impacting irrigation in that area, affecting the livelihood of farmers, Stalin said.
‘Being an inter-state river, the upper riparian state cannot plan or give approval or construct any new structure across Kosasthalaiyar without the consent of the lower riparian state. Hence it is disappointing that such a step has been taken, which will have a significant adverse impact on our State, especially on Chennai and its northern suburbs,’ he said.
Urging Jagan Mohan Reddy to instruct the authorities concerned in his Government not to go ahead with the proposed reservoir projects and also not to take up any new projects in the Kosasthalaiyar river basin area in Andhra Pradesh, he sought his personal intervention considering the sensitivity of the issue.
