The ambitious Rs 14,000-crore Nadanthaai Vaazhi Cauvery River restoration scheme, projected as a major ecological and irrigation lifeline for Tamil Nadu, is unlikely to begin before the upcoming Assembly elections due to administrative and financial bottlenecks, senior officials have indicated.
The delay became a political flashpoint after AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami accused the DMK government of deliberately stalling the project.
Speaking during the NDA’s election campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Maduranthakam, Palaniswami claimed that the Centre had already approved the scheme and blamed the state for failing to act. However, top officials in the Water Resources Department (WRD) maintained that procedural hurdles, not politics, were responsible for the slow progress.
“The finance department has not yet accorded the necessary approvals. Also, nearly 12 departments — including WRD, water supply and drainage board, TNEB and revenue — must coordinate. Given the scale, it is not feasible to commence work before the elections,” a senior official said.
Another official explained that the National River Conservation Directorate has sanctioned Rs 934 crore for the first phase, with funding shared between the Centre and State in a 60:40 ratio. The Centre will contribute Rs 560 crore, while Tamil Nadu’s share will be Rs 374 crore.
Phase one will focus on restoring the Cauvery from Mettur to Tiruchy and key tributaries such as Thirumanimuthar, Sarabanga, Bhavani, Amaravathi and Noyyal, covering nearly 1,092 km. The remaining 214-km stretch from Tiruchy to the sea will be addressed in the second phase.
Farmers in the delta say the project is long overdue. M. Ramasamy (52), a farmer from Tiruvarur, said industrialisation and urban growth have severely affected water quality and availability. “Pollution has reduced fish, harmed crops and affected drinking water. The river is not what it used to be,” he said, citing past pollution reports that flagged several stretches of the Cauvery basin as highly contaminated.
The scheme proposes sewage treatment plants, common effluent treatment facilities for textile units and riverfront improvements.
K.V. Elankeeran, president of the Federation of Cauvery Delta Farmers Association, said tail-end districts such as Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Mayiladuthurai often manage only one crop season annually due to poor flow. “If this project is implemented, agriculture can revive, and farmers can cultivate more than one season,” he said.
For now, though, the much-anticipated restoration appears set to wait until after the polls.
