Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the Muvattupuzha Valley Irrigation Project (MVIP) through a videoconference on Friday. The project envisaged for Idukki, Ernakulam and parts of Kottayam districts will use the tail water from the Moolamattom power house of the Idukki reservoir.
The project was launched in 1983 and later some areas of Kottayam district were also included by constructing a 323-km water canal. With the inclusion of two lift irrigation schemes, the project will help in irrigating 18,173 hectares of land in the three districts. The total cost of the project, including Central funds, was ₹1,082 crore. The project will help supply irrigation and drinking water to the Assembly constituencies of Thodupuzha, Muvattupuzha, Kothamangalam, Piravom, Kaduthuruthi, Ettumanur and Kottayam.
Cash crops too
Though the MVIP was envisaged to supply water to paddy fields, it has now been revised to support cash crops also. Various government departments will jointly devise a plan to bring fallow land in areas benefited by the project under paddy cultivation. As power generation at the Moolamattom power house increases during the peak summer season, the MVIP will help in solving the drinking water shortage in a large area, including the urban centres in Ernakulam and Kottayam districts.
