Congress hails Tamil Nadu for cancelling Oddenchatram drinking water project

District Congress Committee (DCC) vice president Sumesh Achuthan said here on Wednesday that Tamil Nadu’s withdrawal from the controversial Oddenchatram drinking water project was a result of a series of agitations led by the Congress.

He said the Congress had organised persistent protests at several places, including Chittur and Gopalapuram, after the Tamil Nadu government mooted the project. The project had envisaged taking water from the Aliyar river to Oddenchatram and neighbouring villages in the Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu.

He said Tamil Nadu went further ahead with the project because of the failure of the Kerala government in convincing its counterpart about the State’s interests. “Kerala Power Minister and MLA of Chittur K. Krishnankutty said that Oddenchatram would not affect Kerala. Kerala would surely have been affected had the project been implemented. The Minister should apologise to the people,” said Mr. Achuthan.

He said the Congress played a proactive role in mobilising the farmers of Pollachi and Anamalai regions against the Oddenchatram project.

The Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board recently issued a notice saying that the re-tender for the ₹930-crore project was being cancelled as the State government was reconsidering the scheme.

People in Kerala looked at the project as a violation of the Parambikulam-Aliyar river water sharing agreement signed between Tamil Nadu and Kerala.