Kerala wants the 116-yr-old structure to be rebuilt but TN is up in arms.
It is hartal time in Kerala. While Monday saw the entire state wearing a deserted look, people cutting across party lines observed another hartal on Tuesday in Idukki, Ernakulam, Kottayam and Alappuzha districts. They want a new dam in place of the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam in Idukki district on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. It is rare to see political parties in God’s Own Country coming together for a common cause.
Normal life was affected in the districts due to the 12-hour hartal.
Shops downed shutters, Kerala road transport corporation buses were not operating services and private buses were also off the roads in most of the places.
Kerala is in a grip of fear because of a series of tremors recorded in Idukki since January this year. Though all earthquakes were of magnitude 3.5 in the Richter scale, seismologists and scientists of the centre for earth science studies, Thiruvananthapuram, have sounded a note of caution.
“These earthquakes are a matter of concern. Though I do not perceive an imminent danger, it is advisable to think of building a new dam in place of Mullaperiyar,” John Mathai, senior scientist, told DNA.
Mathai’s research in Mullaperiyar has thrown out results which substantiates Kerala’s demand. “If a quake of magnitude 4 on the Richter scale occurs very close to the dam, it could lead to disaster. Please remember that dam is of 53.6 meters in height and 1,200 meters long,” he said.
The tussle between the two neighbouring states has made life difficult for Malayalees in Tamil Nadu. Politicians like Vaiko and Ramadoss, who lead Tamil chauvinist groups, forget everything while address public meetings. “Keralites are ungrateful, though we provide them with everything from rice to vegetables,” thundered Vaiko recently. All major political parties are unanimous in their opposition to he idea of a new dam because it means Tamil Nadu surrendering 8,000-odd acres under its control to Kerala.
Govt stand
Meanwhile, the political battle over the dam hotted up with MPs from Tamil Nadu and Kerala seeking prime minister Manmohan Singh’s intervention to resolve the issue. The Centre has expressed willingness to facilitate a meeting between chief ministers of both the states, if Kerala agrees to build the dam on its own and continues to provide Tamil Nadu with the same quantity of water which it draws today from Mullaperiyar.
Oommen Chandi, chief minister of Kerala, has assured that the new dam would be fully financed by the government of Kerala. “We will ensure that Tamil Nadu continues to get the same quantity of water which it draws today,” Chandy said.
“We should show maturity and not rough up passions because the decision of a new dam is certainly going to be a reality. This has to come by taking Tamil Nadu into full confidence. We are hopeful that all issues would be sorted out amicably,” Chandy said.
Why the tussle
The story of Mullaperiyar dam dates back to 1885 when the then Maharajah of Travancore signed a deal with the Governor of British-ruled Madras Presidency to build a dam across Periyar to provide water to irrigate the farm lands in Madurai, Theni, Sivaganga and Ramanathapuram districts.
Over 8,000 acres were leased to Madras (present day Tamil Nadu) for 999 years. “The Maharaja signed the deal under pressure from the British rulers. The present day Kerala politicians vitiated the whole deal by signing another deal in 1970 with Tamil Nadu ratifying the old treaty between Travancore and Madras presidency,” late Prof A Sreedhara Menon, eminent historian had said weeks before he breathed last.
Since 1978, Kerala has been demanding a new dam to be built in place of the old because of earthquakes and landslides occurring in the high ranges of the state. Based on persistent pleas by Kerala government, Tamil Nadu which administers the dam, brought down the water level from 152 ft to 132 ft, to allay the fears among the people downstream. The agreement was that the water level would be restored to its original level once the strengthening works are over. The issue went up to the apex court.
Though the top court ruled in 2006 in favour of Tamil Nadu by asking it to restore the water levels to 142 ft, both Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi who ruled the state alternatively, failed to get the court order implemented.
AK Gosain, IIT Delhi, who led a team of dam experts to Mullaperiyar as per the request of Kerala government says it is time for building a new dam. “I don’t say that Mullaperiyar will collapse tomorrow. But the dam is not safe from the point of view of a hydrologist,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kerala finance minister KM Mani has said in his next budget he would set aside funds for a new dam at Mullaperiyar.
"The new dam will come up 1,600 feet away from the present dam and it will cost Rs.600 crore," Mani said.
Sources close to the Kerala government indicated that an emergency assembly session is likely to be called to discuss the issue.
— With Agency inputs
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