Srivilliputhur-Megamalai Tiger Reserve to rejuvenate Vaigai, India’s heritage river

Srivilliputhur-Megamalai as fifth tiger reserve in Tamil Nadu will boost conservation efforts and can rejuvenate Vaigai, India’s heritage river.

• In February this year, the Srivilliputhur-Megamalai Tiger Reserve (SMTR), was jointly declared by the Centre and Tamil Nadu governments.
• For this, the Megamalai Wild Life Sanctuary (WLS) and the adjoining Srivilliputhur WLS were clubbed together. The new tiger reserve is spread over 101,657.13 hectares (1,016.5713 sq km).
• Vaigai is truly India’s ‘heritage river’. For centuries, it has seen the rise and fall of human civilisation.
• However, today, it is beset with problems similar to any river in the world. But that could change with the declaration of Srivilliputhur-Megamalai Tiger Reserve (SMTR) in Tamil Nadu.

What is Srivilliputhur Megamalai Tiger Reserve?

• Srivilliputhur Megamalai Tiger Reserve is the fifth tiger reserve in Tamil Nadu.
• An area of 1,01,657.13 hectares or 1016.5713 kmin Srivilliputhur Grizzled Giant Squirrel Sanctuary and Megamalai Wildlife Sanctuary have been combined to create the tiger reserve.

• Origin: The river originates in the Western Ghats. It travels through the Pandya Nadu region of Tamil Nadu.
• Tributaries: Its main tributaries are Suruliyaru, Mullaiyaru, Varaganadhi, Manjalaru, Kottagudi, Kridhumaal and Upparu.
• The Vaigai is 258 kilometres long and finally empties into the Palk Strait near the Pamban Bridge in Ramanathapuram district.
• The river fulfils the drinking water requirement of five districts of Tamil Nadu namely Theni, Madurai, Ramnathapuram, Sivagangai and Dindigul. It also provides irrigation to 200,000 hectares of agricultural land.

• The Vaigai was the river that flowed through the fabled city of Madurai, the capital of the ancient and prosperous Pandya kingdom located in southern Tamil Nadu.
• The river finds a mention in Sangam literature dated to 300 before Common Era.
• Historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones', Sangam Literature connotes the ancient Tamil literature and is the earliest known literature of South India.

• It happened at the end of the 18th century when the British started deforesting the Megamalai region which acts as a major catchment for Vaigai.
• Large parts of virgin forest were destroyed to free land for commercial plantations of cash crops like tea, cardamom, pepper, cinnamon, etc.
• Consequently, the water flow in the river reduced gradually. As a result, the people who depended on the river for their livelihood, faced innumerable hardships. Some 200,000 people died in this region during the Great Famine of 1876-77.  
• Following the famine, the British Crown proposed diverting water from the Periyar and feeding it to the Vaigai through a tunnel.
• Major John Pennycuik and his team built a dam at the confluence of the Mullaiyar and Periyar rivers and the work was completed successfully after eight years in 1895.
• The Periyar project, was widely considered ‘one of the most extraordinary feats of engineering ever performed by man’.
• After completion of the dam, the water from the Periyar was successfully brought to the Vaigai, which revived again.
• The Vaigai presently gets about 80 per cent of its water from the Periyar dam. The balance 20 per cent is obtained from the major watershed of the Megamalai region during the northeast monsoon season.

• Sand removal: Due to indiscriminate removal of sand from the river, whatever water flows into the Vaigai gets drained within a few days.
• Scarcity of water: Due to removal of sand, acute scarcity of water, the open wells and the bore wells located on the banks of the river have dried up as the groundwater level has gone very deep.
• Encroachment: The Megamalai forests are in a very bad shape currently, interspersed with numerous encroachments and many private plantations.

• Protection of origin: The new tiger reserve will not only lead to wildlife protection of the country’s flagship species but will also result in the rejuvenation of the Vaigai river by protecting the river’s origins in these forests.
• Balancing the ecology: The tiger reserve will help restore the ecology of this region.  It will give a fillip to the conservationof large mammals such as elephants, tigers, leopards, Indian gaur and Nilgiri tahr, besides the endangered grizzled giant squirrel.
• Boost in flow of tributaries: With the new Srivilliputhur – Megamalai Tiger Reserve, the forests will be better protected and the Vaigai river, its tributaries will start flowing again.

Vaigai needs to be protected in order to get water for irrigation and drinking purposes in the six districts. With the creation of the Tiger Reserve, the water needs of various Southern Districts have mostly been taken care of. Moreover, the forests will be better protected and streams and rivers will start flowing again.