With the row over the Mullaiperiyar dam issue hotting up, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Ms J. Jayalalithaa, today sought to reach out to the people of Kerala, saying that there is no valid reason to believe that the reservoir is unsafe and they should see through the “machinations” of vested interests and divisive forces in both states.
Appealing to the people of Kerala not to succumb to any divisive forces in the interests of both states, she said it was unfortunate that a fear psychosis among the people of Kerala was being built up.
“As the Mullaiperiyar dam is fully safe and as good as new, the people of Kerala should see through the machinations of vested interests” and should feel secure that the retrofitted dam was as good as new and not a “threat to the lives and properties of the people of the region”, she said in full page advertisements in major dailies.
Ms Jayalalithaa, who had earlier written to her counterpart in Kerala, Mr Oommen Chandy, to reassure him that the dam was totally safe, said: “There is no valid reason to believe that the dam is unsafe. It is unfortunate that a fear psychosis among the people of Kerala is being built up.’’
Tracing the history of the 116-year-old reservoir, she said the human settlements in the area were much above the reach of the flood waters of the dam and the Idukki reservoir of Kerala was designed to absorb the flood and the moderate flood up to about 4,00,000 cubic feet of water per second.
Ms Jayalalithaa’s appeal came as Kerala stepped up pressure with its Assembly yesterday unanimously passing a resolution insisting on a new dam to replace the 116-year-old reservoir.
As the protests in both states became strident, Tamils, including Lord Ayyappa devotees, were allegedly attacked in Kerala while in retaliation some shops owned by Keralites were targeted by fringe Tamil outfits in parts of Tamil Nadu.
Ms Jayalalithaa said since water has not been stored above 136 feet for a long time, the water spread area has been encroached upon by land grabbers in Kerala who have built resorts and other buildings on the lands leased to Tamil Nadu.
“If the water level is increased from 136 feet, these resorts will get submerged in water. This is also cited by some as the possible reason for the plea to decommission the Mullaiperiyar Dam,” Ms Jayalalithaa said in the appeal.
It has been proved and established scientifically that a certain amount of water must leak as seepage from the dam, if it needed to be safe, strong and healthy, she said.
“In fact, when the water level rises above the full reservoir level of 152 feet, to safeguard the dam, excess water is discharged by a spill way with 10 vents, each measuring 36x16 ft, which was already there”, she said adding using this, 86,000 cu ft of water/second can be discharged.
Moreover, based on the advice of the Central Water Commission, an extra spilling capacity of 36,000 cu.ft/ second was added by constructing three vents measures 40x16 ft. So, the current spilling capacity of the dam was approximately 1,22,000 cu.ft/second.
Elaborating on various measures to ensure the safety, she said the existing dam and the backing concrete were designed and joined together using latest technology to work as a single dam structure.
“It is amply clear that the dam is safe and adequate steps have been taken by Tamil Nadu to ensure its safety”, she added.