It is dangerous to play with fire but it could also be dangerous to play with water. An example of this was seen in the attitude shown in the past three days by neighbours Tamil Nadu and Kerala towards the issue of the 120-year-old Mullaperiyar dam which involves lives and property of many people in Kerala.
Fear is still writ large on the faces of the people living in the Kerala villages in the downstream areas of the age-weakened dam as water level in the reservoir lingers just millimeters below the permitted 142-feet limit and the threat of opening the dam’s spillway gates into the River Periyar — to bring down the level by draining out water — flooding their homes and farms is lurking.
Fear will not leave these people as far as this dam, which they think cannot bear the weight of full-capacity storage for ever, stands there but fear reached its peak after Tamil Nadu, which is authorized to maintain the dam though it is situated in Kerala, opened eight of its 13 spillway gates draining 4,200 cubic feet of water per second into Periyar in the middle of Monday night.
“There was no warning. We are living just below the dam but most of us knew of the opening of the shutters from TV news. The Kerala officials had come asking us to relocate in the middle of the night but they didn’t know where we should go or for how long we would be gone,” said a schoolteacher living in Vallakkadavu, a village directly below the dam.
Kerala is blaming — it has been doing so for decades now — Tamil Nadu for the confusion. V Ratheesan, district collector in Idukki where the dam is situated, says Tamil Nadu had neglected his request notify his office 12 hours in advance if the spillway gates were to be opened. Kerala officials’ argument is that this is why they did not get time to warn the people.
“The Tamil Nadu engineers had known well in advance, as the water level inched towards the peak point, that the shutters would have to be opened any moment on Monday night. But they kept mum about it. When the water touched the 142-feet mark, they just opened the gates putting the people on the river bank into danger,” said a Kerala Revenue official.
But the official had no explanation for why they failed in properly relocating the people when the river began flooding after the shutters opened. “There were not enough street lights. The authorities thought of it only on Tuesday. Despite the claims that all relief arrangements were ready, the Government had done virtually nothing,” complained the schoolteacher.
“Draining water through Periyar into Kerala’s Idukki reservoir is the last resort. We were trying to keep the level safe by drawing more water,” a Tamil Nadu Public Works official said. The fact is that the Tamil Nadu officials had known that shutters would have to be opened as the water flowing into the dam from catchment areas was much more than what they were drawing.
Though the ancient-technology surki-concrete dam commissioned in 1895 is situated in Kerala territory, Tamil Nadu possesses the right to draw its entire water as per an 1886 lease pact, strangely valid for 999 years. Tamil Nadu also possesses the authority for the maintenance of the dam. As per a Supreme Court order, the maximum permitted water level is 142 feet.
According to Kerala, the only way to end the recurrence of this tragic drama of fear every year is to build a new dam further inside the State’s territory. The State Government says that Tamil Nadu can draw water from that dam as it is doing now but Chennai is not prepared to accept this mainly because it thinks a new dam may entail a new lease agreement.
“This dam is a concrete curse sitting on our heads,” says Jose Cherian of Vallakkadavu, pointing at the dam. “Who doesn’t know that such a dam cannot last for eternityIJ What is Tamil Nadu thinkingIJ Why is the Kerala Government unable to put its point acrossIJ Why is the Centre reluctant to interfereIJ” Jose asks. He is not the only one raising these questions.
As they continued to raise these questions, the threat of further release of water through the spillway gates and further flooding of their villages loomed large even on Wednesday. The dam water level on Wednesday evening stood at 141.7 feet almost where it stood hours before the spillway gates were opened on Monday night.