Chennai: Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay has planned to press for the speedy implementation of the Godavari-Krishna-Pennar-Palar-Cauvery river-linking project at the 31st Southern Zonal Council meeting, chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.The meeting is scheduled to take place in Kovalam on Friday. “The govt is continuously taking all steps to implement the link project through the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) and a special committee on inter-linking of rivers and the Union govt, to alleviate water scarcity in the state,” water resources minister N Anand said. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this month, Vijay sought directions to the Jal Shakti ministry and the NWDA to expedite consultations with the stakeholder states and work towards an early resolution of the pending issues. Simultaneously, Anand also wrote to his Andhra Pradesh counterpart, seeking the state’s concurrence to enable the NWDA to proceed with the project.The minister said the Cauvery delta was facing mounting challenges, including falling groundwater levels, saline water intrusion, deteriorating irrigation infrastructure, climate variability and reduced river flows. The state govt plans to launch a comprehensive ecological restoration mission for the Cauvery delta, Anand said. The initiative is expected to help sustain agricultural productivity, improve water availability, enhance groundwater quality and strengthen environmental security in the region. “Rs 10 crore has been allocated in the current fiscal year for a feasibility study and project report for the ecological restoration of the Cauvery delta region,” he said.Anand said 14tmcft of water had been released at Biligundulu, the inter-state border, between July 29 and Aug 18 following the state govt’s efforts. Consequently, the water level rose from 73.8ft to 88.7ft, while storage increased from 36.07tmcft to 44.7tmcft. In accordance with the Cauvery Water Management Authority’s order, the state govt expected another 9tmcft to be released by Aug 26. A decision on opening the Mettur sluices would be taken shortly, Anand said. The release of water through the East and West Bank canals would be decided based on the storage available after water was released for the delta, he said in response to former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.
