THENI: Members of the Periyar Vaigai Irrigation Farmers Association staged a protest at the lowercamp demanding the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) to exclude Kerala officials in the Mullai Periyar Dam's new supervisory committee on Saturday.
Over 100 farmers from the association raised slogans against the Kerala government that they were allegedly spreading false information about Mullai Periyar Dam's water levels.
Further, they demanded NDSA to fulfill their 14 charter points of demands, such as release of the resettlement agreement of 1979 and conduct fair enquiry on the lack of implementation of the Supreme Court's 2006 and 2014 orders.
Speaking to TNIE, Association Coordinator S Anvar Balasingam alias Pennycuick said, "There was a 999-year settlement between Kerala and Tamil Nadu government for sharing the dam water. Tamil Nadu government has been paying Rs 30 per acre every month and a total of Rs 2,55,000 have been paid to the Kerala government for the total irrigation of 8,500 acres."
"Until 2014, even the Idukki collector needed permission from the TN water resource chairman to enter the dam, because it was under the TN government. What kind of rights does the Kerala government have? Without respecting the settlement, Kerala is freely operating their boats and engaging their police forces among other violations," he added.
New supervisory committee to visit Mullai Periyar Dam
Mullai Periyar Dam's new supervisory committee to visit on Saturday. A new seven-member committee has been formed under the National Dam Safety Act, 2021. The committee will be chaired by National Dam Safety Authority Chairman Anil Jain. The members will include Additional Chief Secretary (Water Resources) Magat Ram Sharma, Chairman of the Cauvery Technical Committee Subramani, Kerala Additional Chief Secretary, Kerala Minor Irrigation Department Chief Engineer, Officials from Indian Institute of Science and Research (IISc), Banglore, and a member from disaster management.