ABSTRACT

Water is the most important resource on the planet. However, only a very small
fraction of the water covering the earth can be consumed for drinking or agricultural
purposes. Recently, we are witnessing increasing shortage of water nearly in every
region of the world. Kerala, traditionally a lush, green land is no exception. An
example of this is the Meenachil basin in Kottayam. Lacking any water supply
arrangement, coupled with drying rivers and depleting resources, this region is
starting to suffer from the effects of water scarcity. An agricultural region and the
largest exporter of Rubber in the state, water scarcity would spell disaster here. It is
therefore a chief concern to provide an appropriate water supply scheme to this region
and to encourage water conservation plans at the local and community level.
The Meenachil basin has been suffering from water scarcity issues since the 1970s.
The government had proposed several plans like construction of dams, diversion
schemes etc. However, these failed to be implemented following local protests over
the acquisition of land and the relocation of families that this would entail. To prevent
these problems, it is proposed to build a diversion arrangement involving a tunnel to
bring water from the tail race of the Moolamattom Power House and supply it to the
irrigable land using a canal system. From the water balance sheets, it can be seen that
this would not negatively affect the water availability to the other areas or the
Governments obligations to the towns and businesses downstream. Hence, this
scheme may be feasible.