Tamil Nadu, which had scored a huge legal victory over Kerala in the Mullaperiyar dam case on Wednesday when the Supreme Court accepted almost all its arguments, surprised Kerala on Saturday by launching operations for raising the reservoir water level from the presently fixed 136 feet to 142 feet as per the permission granted by the apex court in its verdict.
Officials of the Tamil Nadu Government inspected the spillway of the Mullaperiyar dam on Saturday morning and marked the 142-feet point on it and checked whether the 13 spillway shutters, which had remained open for the past 35 years, were still operable in order to down them for raising the water level by six feet.
In a statement issued in Chennai, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa confirmed that steps to raise the water level had been started. The Tamil Nadu move embarrassed the Government of Kerala, which was yet to formulate even the arguments to be included in the review petition it was planning to file in the apex court against the Wednesday’s verdict.
Politicians in Kerala protested against the Tamil Nadu action saying it was unacceptable as steps to raise the water level could be taken only after the constitution of a three-member supervisory panel. It is up to this panel, headed by the Chairman of the Central Water Commission, to take decisions on raising the water level and other dam-related matters.
However, here also Tamil Nadu acted faster than Kerala by appointing R Subramaniam, head of the Cauveri Technical Cell as its representative on the panel while Thiruvananthapuram was yet to decide whether its representative should be the State Chief Secretary, Power Secretary or Secretary of the Water Resources Department.
The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court had on Wednesday pronounced its final verdict on the protracted case related to the Mullaperiyar dam, which is situated inside Kerala territory but the entire water of which is being drawn by Tamil Nadu as per an agreement signed in October, 1886, which would be valid for 999 years.
According to Kerala, the 118-year-old ancient-technology dam was unsafe and was a big threat to the lives and property of over 40 lakh people living in five of its districts as there was every possibility of the age-weakened dam developing a breach anytime. However, the apex court rejected this argument as Kerala had not been able to support its argument with evidences.
Meanwhile, the fact that what has till now been a theoretical possibility - raising of water level - is fast turning into a reality, heightened the fears of the people living in the downstream areas of Mullaperiyar. “The Kerala Government should not allow this to happen,” said a spokesman of an outfit which has been agitating against the dam for the past several years.
Experts point out that it will be extremely risky to allow Tamil Nadu to raise the water level by six feet, as it is not certain whether the old dam built with boulders and Surki concrete can withstand the massive thrust the additional water mass will impose on it. “Also there is no experience of anything like this in the recent past,” said Anil Kumar, a Kochi-based hydrologist.
Raising the level in the reservoir is expected to submerge over 1,500 acres of the Periyar Tiger Reserve, affecting the region’s biodiversity in a big way. It will also stop completely the overflow of water through the spillway in monsoons into the giant Idukki Hydel Reservoir. This overflow every year was enough for the Idukki project to generate power worth Rs 36 crore.
However, those agitating against the dam near it are holding Kerala’s Government and politicians responsible for the situation. “In the first place, we lost the case due to their inefficiency. Now they are in inaction. The verdict had come on Wednesday but they are holding an all-party meet on such a burning issue on Monday only,” said a protestor.