THENI: The PWD vehicle from Tamil Nadu was denied entry to the Mullai Periyar dam area to conduct maintenance work as the Tamil Nadu Irrigation Department had not secured prior permission from the Minor Irrigation Department in Idukki district, said Periyar Tiger Reserve Additional Field Director Suresh Babu.
He told TNIE that this permit was necessary to travel on the pathway, which comes under the Periyar Tiger Reserve limits, leading to the reservoir. Sources said that as per an order of the Supreme Court and the Dam Safety Act, 2021, the Tamil Nadu government's PWD department is solely responsible for the safety of Mullai Periyar dam.
On December 4, a PWD lorry carrying two loads of M Sand from TN was blocked at the Vallakadavu check post in Kerala citing the lack of a permit. The lorry has been remaining at the check post since then. Speaking to TNIE on request of anonymity, an official from PWD department said that a letter in this regard was sent to the Kerala forest department on October 22. However, the Deputy Director of Periyar Tiger Reserve did not respond to the letter.
"As per the Dam Safety Act, the officials who are in charge of the dam's maintenance are solely responsible for the reservoir. If any unpleasant incident occurs, the officer concerned will be punished under section 41 (b). Similarly, if anyone prevents the discharge of official duty at the dam, they will also be punished under section 42," he pointed out.
The official also noted that the Minor Irrigation Executive Engineer at Kattappana Dam, is the nodal officer who should grant permission for bringing construction materials to Mullai Periyar. But, he had denied permission to the TN vehicle citing that he did not receive a go-ahead from his higher officials.
"On one side, they are spreading messages claiming that the dam should be dismantled as it has weakened. On the other, they are preventing us from carrying out maintenance work. On May 7, the PWD sent a detailed estimate for undertaking 13 kinds of works, including maintenance of a slipway where excess water is released. In this connection, the TN Engineers sent a letter to Kerala officials, and also met them in person to explain the significance of the work," he said.
"We sent reminders to the chairman and government secretaries of both Tamil Nadu and Kerala. During the eighth monitoring meeting, it was decided that in the presence of a team led by Kattappana dam executive engineer present, construction materials would be allowed to pass to the Mullai Periyar dam site for carrying out maintenance work for three days. However, the Kerala executive engineers have not even responded to the monitoring committee's advice. In this situation, we had boycotted the sub-committee's inspection on October 16," he recalled.
