DAM 999

 

The name Mullaperiyar is an unwarranted fear in the minds of all Malayalees.119 years ago His highness Uthradam Thirunal of Thiruvithankoor (now Travancore or Thiruvananthapuram) signed an agreement for the construction of Mullaperiyar dam due  to the immense pressure of British government by proclaiming that “I am signing this with my own blood”. On 9^th October 1886 His highness Vishakam Thirunal Ramavarma of Travancore and the British government signed the Periyar Lease agreement for giving water to Tamil Nadu from the Periyar River.  The Diwan of Travancore V.Ramasanker and the state secretary of Madras J.D Hangton signed the agreement. After the construction the dam was commissioned in 1895.

Mullaperiyar is the highest among the oldest gravity dams in the world. About 442 workers died in the construction period of 9 years. It is located 881 m (2,890 ft) above mean sea level, on the Cardamom Hills of the Western Ghats in Thekkady, Idukki District . It has a height of 53.6 m (176 ft) from the foundation, and a length of 365.7 m (1,200 ft). The Periyar National Park in Thekkady is located around the dam's reservoir. The dam is located in Kerala on the river Periyar, but  it is controlled and operated under a period lease by Tamil Nadu state . Although the Periyar River has a total catchment area of 5398 km² with 114 km² in Tamil Nadu, the catchment area of the Mullaperiyar dam itself lies entirely in Kerala.

Recently the original agreement document of 7 pages was discovered.    “This agreement is for ‘999’ years and the dam should be constructed on the 8000 acres of land which comes under the Travancore reign and provide 100 more acres for it.” – This was the agreement. And the amount that the Tamil Nadu government want to pay to Kerala was Rs5/acre. According to that about 40,000 rupees were given to Kerala.

After gaining the Independence the agreement was renewed on 29^th may 1970. With that renewed agreement Tamil Nadu should pay Rs 30/acre and rupees 12/kilowatt/annum for the electricity that is produced in the lower camp using the water of Mullaperiyar.

The agreement wants to be again renewed on 2000 but it didn’t happened due to some controversies. But Tamil Nadu is paying that fixed amount in 1970 without any delay.

From the last 118 years Tamil Nadu is using an average amount of 60 TMC/year that means 7080 TMC of water till now. According to the present circumstances Tamil Nadu should  pay about 7,000 core rupees. And yearly Tamil Nadu is producing electricity of 600 core rupees. And GDP from that is 1200 core rupees. But payment is only 30 lakh every year.

During the North East and South West monsoon the water level in the Mullaperiyar dam will rise. Mullaperiyar water level was 136.50 feet in 29^th November 2011. That was the highest level of water.

Mullaperiyar dam is in its 118^th year. The techniques used for its construction was that of 118 years ago.  The dam was constructed from lime stone and "surkhi" (burnt brick powder and a mixture of sugar and calcium oxide).

A series of earthquakes since 1979, leaks and cracks, old construction techniques  the rising water level and the antiquity made the dam weak and will be the reason for the collapse of Mullaperiyar dam.

       Today Mullaperiyar dam is a matter of serious safety concern for the people of Kerala, especially for the people of Idukki, Kottayam, Ernakulum, Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta districts of Kerala, because those districts will be sinking under Arabian sea when Mullaperiyar is cave in and that will be a wiping of an renowned culture of our nation.  

On 7^th  May 2014, the Supreme court avowed that The Kerala Irrigation and The Water Authority Act passed by the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 2006 was unconstitutional and  thereby to  increase the Mullaperiyar water level to 142 feet and  empowered three member committee. The  bench presided over by the chief justice R M Lodha made the above  verdict.  They also stated that Kerala’s predicament will not endure. Kerala  made an allegation that the supreme court verdict was purely on technical grounds.  

The prevailing situation might had changed if the supreme court verdict was by supporting the Kerala’s request. Because  the construction of new dam will be good for tboth Kerala and Tamil Nadu but if that happens Tamil Nadu want to increase their  existing limited payment that is paying for the water they use and electricity they produce.

Mullaperiyar is a sleeping devil who is cruel. If he wakes up Kerala want to face flood and Tamil Nadu want to face heavy draught which resulted in a great disaster taking the life of many people.