Pamba-Achankovil-Vaippar River Project | 14 Nov 2019

Why in News

The Kerala government is preventing the implementation of the Pamba-Achankovil-Vaippar river link project as it will lead to diversion of water from Kerala to Tamil Nadu.

Project

• The project was envisaged in 1995 for producing 500 MW of power for Kerala and irrigating the lands in Tamil Nadu.
• The river link proposal envisages the diversion of water from the Pamba and Achankovil rivers in Kerala to the Vaippar basin in Tamil Nadu.

Pamba River

• It rises at an altitude of 1650m in the Peermade Plateau in the Idukki district of Kerala.
• It joins the Arabian Sea branching into a number of channels. The entire catchment area of Pamba lies in Kerala state.
• The Pamba basin is bounded on the east by Western Ghats and on the west by Arabian Sea.

Achankovil River

• The river rises in the Western Ghats in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala at an elevation of 700m.
• It joins the Pamba River at Veeyapuram.
• The river basin extends over an area of 1484 km2 and lies entirely in Kerala State.

Vaippar River

• The river rises from the eastern slopes of the Varushanad hill range of the Western Ghats at an elevation of about 1500m in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu.
• It flows in an easterly and southeasterly direction before joining the Gulf of Mannar.
• The basin is bounded on the west by the Western Ghats, on the east by the Bay of Bengal.

Source: TH