No TN proposal on Cauvery-Vaigai-Gundar project under consideration: Centre

The Centre informed the Lok Sabha that no proposal from the Tamil Nadu government seeking financial assistance for the Cauvery-Vaigai-Gundar River Link Project is under consideration. It said the project's DPR was completed in 2020 by the National Water Development Agency

New Delhi: The Centre on Thursday said no proposal from the Tamil Nadu government for financial assistance for the Cauvery-Vaigai-Gundar River Link Project is under consideration of the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Jal Shakti Raj Bhushan Choudhary said, “No proposal of State Government of Tamil Nadu for financial assistance of the Cauvery-Vaigai-Gundar Link Project is under consideration of Ministry of Jal Shakti.” The minister said the Cauvery-Vaigai-Gundar Link Project is one of the river-linking projects identified under the National Perspective Plan.

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He said the detailed project report (DPR) of the link “was completed and circulated by National Water Development Agency (NWDA) in 2020”. According to the DPR, the project envisages diversion of about 2,252 million cubic metres of water from the Kattalai Barrage on the Cauvery river in partial exchange of surplus water proposed to be received in the Cauvery basin through the Godavari-Cauvery Link Project.

As per the DPR, the project covers the drought-prone districts of Karur, Tiruchirappalli, Pudukkottai, Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram, Virudhunagar and Thoothukudi. It is expected to indirectly improve groundwater availability by reducing dependence on groundwater for irrigation and supplying about 218 million cubic metres of water for domestic and industrial use to en-route areas, Choudhary said.

However, the Central Ground Water Board has not undertaken any project-specific study to assess the groundwater recharge impact of the project in Theni, Virudhunagar and Ramanathapuram districts, the minister added.