The dry condition of Papanasam dam in Tirunelveli district.
| Photo Credit: FILE PICTURE
The four southern districts may get entangled in acute drinking water crisis during this summer as water level in all major dams feeding millions of population in these districts besides nourishing over a lakh hectares of land is dwindling fast due to the intense dry spell prevailing in the catchment areas along the Western Ghats.As the 122-km-long Tamirabharani traverses from Tirunelveli’s Papanasam to Thoothukudi’s Punnakayal, 236 infiltration wells have been dug along the perennial river to supply drinking water to a few million population in Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Thoothukudi and Virudhunagar districts. The Papanasam and Manimuthar dams, having cumulative storage capacity of 11,011 million cubic feet and hence feed over 85,000 acres of wetlands in Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts, now have only 2,890 mcft of water, which cannot even meet the drinking water needs of Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Tenkasi and Virudhunagar districts during this summer. Hence, the industries of Thoothukudi district, which are relying upon the Tamirabharani to meet their water needs, are being told repeatedly to set up their captive desalination plants for their industrial requirements.As most of these industries are still dependent on the Tamirabharani, the water available in the Papanasam and Manimuthar dams may not be sufficient to meet the drinking water supply to the residents of these four districts during this summer, the officials say.“If the industries continue to depend on the water being released from these two dams in the Tamirabharani for their needs, supply of drinking water to the residents will be seriously get affected during this summer, we feel. We can be bailed out only if nature is gracious enough to bring good showers in the catchment areas of these two dams,” said a senior TWAD Board official here.The Papanasam dam, which was receiving around 9 cusecs of water till yesterday, is no longer getting water since Tuesday as there is no precipitation in the catchment areas. The dam, which had water for 86 feet during this corresponding date last year now has water for only 45 feet and there is no inflow of water. Hence, there is no discharge of water from this reservoir as of now.Consequently, generation of 52 MW power in the Papanasam and Servalar dams’ hydroelectric projects has been been stopped as water cannot be discharged from these dams due to rapidly falling water level.“Power generation in Servalar dam is possible only if the water level stands above 60 feet. Since this dam has the water level of only 58 feet, power generation has been stopped in the Servalar hydroelectric project. Similarly, power generation has been hit in the Papanasam Dam also as discharge of water from the reservoir has been stopped,” the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation officials said.The TWAD Board official informed that plans are afoot to dig channels inside the Tamirabharani to ensure stagnation of water around the infiltration wells so that the wetting would improve water supply for drinking purposes to some extent.In Kanniyakumari district, storage level in all the major reservoirs like Petchipaarai, Perunchaani, Poigai, Maambazhathuraiyar and Mukkadal Dams is also not encouraging. Against the maximum level of 48 feet, Petchipaarai Dam now has water for only 21 feet while Perunchaani Dam has water for only 15 feet against the maximum level of 77 feet.The Mukkadal dam, the backbone of drinking water supply to Nagercoil Corporation and the surrounding areas is also reeling under dryspell now. Hence, water level in this dam has reached dead storage. Against the maximum level of 25 feet, the dam now has -8.20 feet!“We expect some summer showers during May at least along the Western Ghats which alone may save us from this spicy situation. If the summer showers in May manages the situation, the southwest monsoon will arrive in the first week of June. So, we’re keeping the fingers crossed as of now,” said a PWD official. Published - April 28, 2026 07:26 pm IST
