INDIA:$340 Million Hogenakkal Water Project Starts Operating

[pfpcnews]

$340 Million Hogenakkal Water Project Starts Operating in India’s Tamil Nadu State

OOSKAnews - June 4, 2013

CHENNAI, INDIA

The long-delayed, $340 million USD Hogenakkal Water Supply and Fluorosis Mitigation project in the water-starved Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts of India’s Tamil Nadu state started operations last week.

The project was inaugurated by Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on May 29, in the presence of Japanese officials. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) funded a significant part of the project, which will utilize water from the Cauvery River to supply drinking water to these two big districts, where the water table is significantly affected by fluoride.

The Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts have been hit by drought; although the Cauvery River enters the state in the Dharmapuri district, it is not used to meet irrigation or drinking water needs there. Of the 10 districts in the state affected by fluorosis, Dharmapuri has the highest concentration of endemic fluoride.

The newly launched project will pump drinking water to a reservoir in Madam, about 11 kilometers from Hogenakkal. After treatment, water will be pumped 145 kilometers to the Palakkodu and Hosur areas. The remaining parts of the Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts will be supplied through a gravity system.

The Tamil Nadu government said last fall that the Hogenakkal project would be completed ahead of time in 2012.

However, it has faced numerous delays due to lack of funds and objections from neighboring Karnataka state over water sourcing.

The two states are still butting heads over sharing waters of the Cauvery.

The Tamil Nadu government has been urging Karnataka to release 34 million cubic meters of water during the first 20 days of June as required under a Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal ruling.

However, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said this week that the state could not release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu because of the ongoing drought, which has dried up reservoirs throughout the river basin.

SOURCE:
http://www.ooskanews.com/story/2013/06/ ... ate_156241