CHENNAI: Madurai-based Tamil writer Su Venkatesan, who has been an active member of the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers Association and released six collections of poems and seven research works, came into the national limelight after his magnum opus, Kaaval Kottam earned the highest literary award of the land - the Sahitya Akademi Award. In the book, he records the history of the Mullaiperiyar dam in detail.
The book covers 600 years of history of Madurai and the surrounding areas, from 1310 to 1920. The author received the first recognition for his work from Ananda Vikatan in 2008. Later, the Canada Tamil Sangam, Tirupur Tamil Sangam, Noyyal Award and the Progressive Writers Association also appreciated the novel.
Interestingly, Venkatesan allotted one tenth of the the novel to the Mullaiperiyar dam which is now a burning issue between Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
According to the novel, in 1876-77 there was a famine in the unified Madurai districts, (now divided into six districts for administrative convenience) that wiped out half the population of the area.
The British government then decided to construct the Mullaiperiyar dam. After the famine, the construction of the dam began and was completed in the next two decades. Before the dam was constructed, the area of cultivation in Madurai district was about 22,000 hectares. After the dam was built, the area expanded to 1.25 lakh hectares and Mullaiperiyar became the life-line for these six districts.
On a possible solution to the Mullaiperiyar issue, Venkatesan says that since the safety (a technical issue) of the dam is being questioned, politicians should listen to experts.
He says when there was a dispute among landlords in sharing water of Suruliyar in Theni district in 1924, the then British government acquired all lands along the river to put an end to the problem. Similarly, the entire area around the Mullaiperiyar dam should be merged with Tamil Nadu or the Central government should take over control of area.