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Tamil Nadu engineers walk out of sub-committee inspection of Mullaperiyar dam
The walkout had been staged as a mark of protest against the ‘lackadaisical’ attitude of the Kerala govt. in denying permission for six months to carry out maintenance work at dam site
Members of sub-committee arrive at Thekkady to inspect the Mullaiperiyar Dam in Kerala on Wednesday (October 16, 2024).
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The sub-committee on Mullaperiyar dam could not carry out a scheduled inspection of the structure on Wednesday (October 16, 2024), as the Tamil Nadu Water Resources Organisation (WRO) engineers walked out in protest against the Kerala Minor Irrigation (MI) Division for not allowing maintenance work at the dam site for six months.
The sub-committee is headed by its Chairman and Executive Engineer, Central Water Commission, Kochi, B. Satheesh. It includes two members from Tamil Nadu – J. Sam Erwin, Executive Engineer, Additional Charge, Periyar Dam Special Division (PDSD), and T. Kumar, Assistant Executive Engineer, PDSD. Members from Kerala, Levins Babu Kottur, Executive Engineer, MI Division, Kattapanai and Kirandas, Assistant Executive Engineer, MI Division were also present. They had assembled to leave for the dam site for quarterly inspection on Wednesday morning.
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However, before leaving for the site, Tamil Nadu members raised the issue of Kerala not granting permission for the maintenance work.
When the Kerala official said that he had to get permission from higher officials from the Kerala government, the WRO engineers objected to it. They walked out of the inspection to draw attention of the National Dam Safety Authority to the “lackadaisical attitude” of the Kerala government, a WRO engineer told The Hindu.
Request in May
In May, WRO engineers had sought permission from the Executive Engineer (MI) for carrying out 13 specific tasks in the dam, related to the surplus regulator, main dam, gallery and earthen dam. The engineers had planned to complete the work before the onset of northeast monsoon, the engineer said.
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The details of the maintenance work were provided to the Kerala engineers. An in-person explanation was also given to them.
Members of sub-committee members in Kerala on Wednesday
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Despite the engineers from Kerala inspecting the dam, no permission was granted for the work for six months and no construction material could be taken to the dam site.
Several reminders were sent to the MI engineers. The issue was taken up with the Supreme Court-appointed Supervisory Committee on the dam. The attention of the Government Secretaries of both States was also drawn to the issue.
‘No compliance’
“At the 8th meeting of the Supervisory Committee, it was decided that any permission sought by WRO engineers for carrying construction materials to the dam site should be granted within three days. Besides, the Executive Engineer, MI Kattapanai, was appointed as the nodal officer for the same. However, the nodal officer did not comply with the Supervisory Committee’s instruction by delaying the permission for over six months,” the source said.
When the issue was again raised on Wednesday with the MI engineers, they questioned the need for taking up the maintenance work at the dam site.
“We tried to explain to them that it was not the work of the Kerala engineers,” he added.
At this point, the WRO engineers told the sub-committee chairman that the exercise of inspection would be futile in the backdrop of permission not granted to take up the maintenance work and walked out.
Published – October 16, 2024 11:13 pm IST
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