IDUKKI: As Tamil Nadu opened spillways V3 and V4 of Mullaperiyar dam in the presence of two Kerala ministers at 7.29am on Friday, it brought back memories of a day that changed the lives of lakhs of people in five Tamil Nadu districts. It was on October 29, 1886, that Travancore Diwan V Rama Ayangar and Madras Residency state secretary J C Hannington signed the 999-year agreement to lease out 8,000 acres of land for the dam.
The Periyar Lease Agreement granted permission to Tamil Nadu to divert water from the Mullaperiyar river basin in Kerala to Theni to irrigate five arid districts. As per the agreement, Tamil Nadu was given exclusive right and liberty to use the land at the confluence of the Periyar and Mullayar, in addition to 100 acres for constructing the dam. The agreement also gave right to the neighbouring state to use water from the dam for irrigation purposes.
After India’s independence, the agreement was revived in 1970 during the term of former chief minister C Achutha Menon. While the rent was revised, Tamil Nadu was also allowed to generate power from the water drawn from the dam. Later, trouble started brewing as concerns were repeatedly raised regarding the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam and, in 1979, Kerala wrote to its neighbour to immediately take steps to strengthen it. It also approached the Central Water Commission (CWC) to depute an expert team to inspect the dam and suggest strengthening measures.
However, as the litigation between the states continued, the Supreme Court in 2006 permitted Tamil Nadu to raise the water level to 142ft, considering it as the safest level. Though Kerala passed a legislation to overcome the Supreme Court order, it was struck down by the court, allowing Tamil Nadu to store water up to 142ft. The protests in the valley had fizzled out after the Supreme Court ruling.
This year, the torrential rain in the high ranges had rekindled the debate about the dam’s strength. It is being pointed out that the Mullaperiyar dam cannot hold the huge inflow as the catchment area is huge and the storage capacity of the dam is only 12.5 TMC ft.