KOCHI: As the water level in Mullaperiyar dam breaches the 136-foot mark, tension builds up in downstream Idukki, which triggers protests and resonates in neighbouring Tamil Nadu. For the past 30 years, Tamil Nadu and Kerala have been witnessing protests over Mullaperiyar dam during monsoon season. But for the first time, there has been excellent coordination between the neighbours over dam operation which has helped defuse tension in both states.
There was virtually no coordination between the two states during the peak of Mullaperiyar conflict in 2010-2015. Tamil Nadu never shared the instrumentation details with Kerala and employees from the state were never allowed to visit the dam site. Kerala had snapped power connection to the dam site in 2001 citing death of wild animals, which was restored only in February 2021.
While the ruling LDF claims that the political bonhomie between Chief Ministers Pinarayi Vijayan and M K Stalin has helped create a conducive atmosphere, activists who have been demanding the decommissioning of the dam say it is the intervention of the Supreme Court that forced Tamil Nadu to cooperate.
“Tamil Nadu has been very cooperative in maintaining the water level below the rule curve this time. The authorities have been sharing statistics and informing their counterparts in Kerala in advance before releasing water. The Tamil Nadu CM has said the concerns raised by Kerala will be addressed while releasing water. Our stand is to provide water to Tamil Nadu while ensuring the safety of people living downstream,” said Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine.
However, Dr Joe Joseph, the petitioner in the Mullaperiyar case, said, “Tamil Nadu was not ready to share the rule curve and instrumentation details with Kerala. They were forced to spill water and keep the level below the rule curve as the Supreme Court had given strict direction. But Tamil Nadu will never accept the demand for a new dam as they have been arguing before the Supreme Court that the dam is hydrologically, seismically and structurally safe,” he said.
The political relationship between the chief ministers of both states may help build a conducive atmosphere for talks, opined irrigation department chief engineer Alex Varghese. “Tamil Nadu will agree for a new dam only if it is beneficial for them. Raising the water level to 152 feet will ensure 4 TMC of additional water to Tamil Nadu which they can utilise for power generation. Kerala has already said the state will not impose restrictions on the quantity of water taken by Tamil Nadu. This may help reach a consensus in the chief ministerial level meeting scheduled to be held in December,” he said.
The biggest problem at Mullaperiyar is the large catchment area and a small dam, which causes concern about overtopping, said dam safety expert and KSEB assistant executive engineer James Wilson. “Mullaperiyar dam has a catchment area of 625 sq km but can store only 12 TMC water. The dam has received an inflow of 35,000 cusecs in 1989 and 30,000 cusecs during the 2018 floods. Such huge inflow will fill the dam within hours. Though the dam was strengthened, we have to accept the fact that it is 126 years old. Every dam has a lifespan. The government should initiate a political dialogue for construction of a new dam. It is a sensitive issue as emotions are involved, but we have to address it,” he said.
James Wilson said the lessons learnt during the 2018 flood has helped Kerala manage the dams better this time. “In fact, we have managed the river also this time. The forest department has installed around 20 rain gauges in the Periyar forest and we were collecting data from these gauges every two hours to measure the rainfall in catchment areas,” he said.
Two shutters closed as water level comes down to 138.65 ft
Idukki: As water level in Mullaperiyar dam came down to 138.65 ft on Friday, the authorities closed two shutters of the dam by evening. Tamil Nadu had raised eight shutters of the dam on Wednesday when the water level crossed 138.9 ft against the permissible level of 142 ft.
Of the eight shutters raised, two were closed on Friday. Of the remaining six shutters, three were lowered to 30 cm by 9 pm from the 60 cm level to release 2,122.42 cusecs of water. Other three shutters release 2,736 cusecs of water from the dam in addition to the 2,305 cusecs discharge via tunnels. As per the direction given by the Supreme Court, the water level in the dam has to be maintained at 139.5 ft till November 11.