Thiyagu Aravind, I have the experience of living in Tamil Nadu for more than 26 years and over 8 years now in Kerala. The dam water was agreed to be shared between Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The land was taken on lease by Tamil Nadu for 999 years in 1886 through an agreement between the then Maharaja of State of Travancore and the Madras Presidency. The project was conceived in 1895. Again, a new agreement was signed around 1970 when the old one was about to expire. The lease amount was increased from Rs.5/ to Rs.30 per acre and the Tamil Nadu government was allowed to produce electricity at a price. The whole problem started only in 1979 when the region faced mild tremors. Now, there are also debates on annexing dam areas bordering the state to Tamil Nadu. The State Reorganisation Commission had also suggested including Devikulam and Peermedu areas (dam areas) in the state. Tamil Nadu is concerned because the new amended law empowers Kerala Dam Safety Authority even to decommission dams, if found unsafe. Such an eventuality will affect more than 80000 acres of land that is under irrigation and will be a body blow to the state of Tamil Nadu. It has also opened debates on water policies of both governments, diverting west-flowing rivers (from Kerala to Arabian Sea) towards east (Tamil Nadu) so as to avoid wastage of water, the rationale of allowing privatization and commercialization of water in this water starved era, policies that makes people to pay for every drop of water they
