Chennai: After almost 15 years, direct talks regarding the Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP) will be held between the Chief Ministers of Tamilnadu and Kerala, when Edappadi K Palaniswami and Pinarayi Vijayan meet at Thiruvananthapuram tomorrow.
Sources said so far only officials level meetings were held. “In 2004, Kerala’s then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Tamilnadu’s former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa held a discussion on this topic in Chennai. After that it was only the officials who discussed the issue,” sources added.
The issue was not taken up even when Vijayan met Palaniswami at the Secretariat here in 2017. The PAP came into force in 1962.
According to the project, it was expected that 50.5 tmc of water could be received out of which 19.55 tmc should be given to Kerala. But there was a dispute while implementing the secondary projects. These disputes would be discussed during the meeting and it is expected to end in a win-win situation.
While it is speculated that Kerala will ask Tamilnadu to honour the provisions of the PAP and ensure the State gets its rightful share, Palaniswami is expected to demand for 2.5 tmc feet water from Anamalaiyar.
It is also said, he will also be pressing for the Pampa- Achankovil-Vaipar link proposal and the Pandiyar-Punnapuzha projects which are being opposed by the Kerala government.
Palaniswami will be accompanied by Ministers P Thangamani, S P Velumani, K C Karuppannan, Deputy Speaker V Jayaraman and Chief Secretary K Shanmugam.