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Kerala Opposition Leader says ‘water for Tamil Nadu and security for Kerala’ policy should guide construction of new dam at Mullaperiyar
V.D. Satheesan’s comment comes against the backdrop of mounting public concern in Kerala about safety of the 129-year-old masonry gravity dam
The landslides in Wayanad have exacerbated people’s anxiety about Mullaperiyar’s structural integrity and capacity to weather a sudden surge of water inflow caused by a cloudburst or heavy rains in the catchment area.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Kerala’s Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan has said a policy of “water for Tamil Nadu and security for Kerala” should guide the construction of a new dam at Mullaperiyar.
Mr. Satheesan’s comment on Tuesday (August 13, 2024) comes against the backdrop of mounting public concern in Kerala about the safety of the 129-year-old masonry gravity dam.
Plea in SC seeks lowering of water level in Mullaperiyar dam in view of Wayanad disaster
The catastrophic landslides that wiped out three settlements in Vythiri taluk in Wayanad district on July 30 have exacerbated people’s anxiety about Mullaperiyar’s structural integrity and capacity to weather a sudden surge of water inflow caused by a cloudburst or heavy rains in the catchment area. Moreover, social media is replete with alarmist posts and Mullaperiyar-related scaremongering.
Mr. Satheesan said Tamil Nadu feared Kerala had proposed a new dam to reduce its share of water from Mullaperiyar.
He said the Kerala government should assuage Tamil Nadu’s fears about reducing its water share and work for a consensus among the neighbouring States.
No immediate concern regarding Mullaperiyar dam’s structural safety: Roshy Augustine
UDF meet to discuss issue
Mr. Satheesan said the Mullaperiyar issue would figure prominently at the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) leadership meeting and camp on August 19.
His reaction comes barely a day after Kerala Irrigation Minister Roshy Augustine attempted to soothe mounting public concern in Kerala that Mullaperiyar was structurally unsafe and an extreme rain event could rupture the barrage and imperil the lives and property of citizens in six downstream districts.
Mr. Augustine, who chaired a meeting at the Idukki District Collector’s office on Monday (August 12, 2024), ruled out any immediate cause for alarm. But, he insisted that Kerala intended to construct a new dam at Mullaperiyar for public safety.
At least three UDF MPs – Dean Kuriakose and Hiby Eden, both of the Congress, and Haris Beeran, IUML’s Rajya Sabha member – had moved either Houses of the Parliament to replace the ageing Mullaperiyar dam.
Forum plans to resume agitation for a new dam at Mullaperiyar
Moreover, the Mullaperiyar Samara Samithi, a politically bipartisan front, is set to restart its agitation for a new dam at Mullaperiyar.
Mr. Satheesan pointed out that the Opposition had flagged the danger posed by Mullaperiyar to residents downstream several times in the Kerala Assembly.
Moreover, the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health highlighted the dam’s issues in its 2021 report ‘Ageing Water Storage Infrastructure: An Emerging Global Risk.’
The Kerala government has also sought a high-level meeting with Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil to convene a high-level meeting. It also planned to move the Supreme Court to get a favourable order.
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