Kerala will go ahead with its plans to build a new dam at Mullaperiyar, Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthandandan told the State Assembly here on Monday.
“It will be catastrophic, if the dam gives in under pressure,” he said. Geologists have cautioned that the 112-year old dam, on Periyar river, is sitting on a tremor belt and that it may not stand long.
Following the heavy monsoon downpour, the water-level of Mullaperiyar dam had crossed 135 feet. It is estimated that as many as five districts spread in the downlying slopes of the dam are in a jeopardy.
The Tamil Nadu government, who under an 1886 agreement (initially made when both areas were under British government’s Madras Presidency Administration) had constructed the dam, dismisses the expert opinion that the dam is weak. Recently, the Tamil Nadu government had also demanded that to improve irrigation potential, the water-level be increased from 136 feet to 142 feet.
According to the Kerala Chief Minister, the arguments of the Tamil Nadu government on this issue were baseless. “As soon as the Supreme Court verdict on the safety issue is known, the State will expediate the construction of the new dam with Centre’s assistance,” Achuthanandan said.