Mullaperiyar Dam

   The Mullaperiyar Dam has been a bone of contention between the TN and Kerala Governments. We trace the history of this controversy. Read the report to understand this issue.

    Mullaperiyar Dam is constructed over the source of the Periyar River in Kerala, India. During the rule of the British in India a 999-year lease was made and accordingly, the Government of Tamil Nadu has been operating the dam. The Periyar National Park is located around the backwaters of this dam. The dam was built by British under the supervision of Benny Cook.  The dam’s purpose was to divert the waters of the west-flowing Periyar River eastwards, since it caused widespread floods in the Travancore region, by constructing a masonry dam and diverting the water from the reservoir by way of a tunnel across the watershed and the Western Ghats to the rain shadow region of the Theni Sivaganga District and Ramanathapuram districts of Tamil Nadu. The lease provided the British the rights over “all the waters” of the Mullaperiyar and its catchments, for an annual rent of Rs. 40,000. About 60,000 ha in Theni, Madurai, Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram, and Dindigul districts in present day Tamil Nadu were intended as beneficiaries of irrigation waters from Mullaperiyar. Water is brought through a 1.6 km long tunnel till the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border and then flows through open canals to Churuliyar river which feeds the Vaigai dam in Tamil Nadu. From there a network of canals take the water to the fields.

The dam’s reservoir level is the bone of contention between the Kerala and Tamil Nadu governments. Since 1970, Kerala has argued that the dam having outlived its life of 50 years is unsafe to maintain water at 46.3 metres—the full reservoir level—and it should be restricted to 41.45 metres. In 1979, the Central Water Commission (cwc)— the premier government agency dealing with dam safety—was asked to look into the matter; it suggested reduction of water level to 41.45 metres as an emergency measure along with other measures to strengthen the dam. Tamil Nadu agreed to this limit. Another committee headed by the then cwc chairperson B K Mittal was appointed in 2001 to look into the matter. It stated that the reservoir level be raised to 43.28 metres, after the strengthening measures were implemented. This was to be on an interim basis, and later reservoir levels could go up to the original level of 46.3 metres.

The government of Tamil Nadu has proposed an increase in the storage level of the dam from the currently maintained 136 feet to 142 feet. The Kerala government has opposed this move, citing safety concerns for the more than hundred year old bridge and especially for the thickly populated districts downstream.

Kerala claims that the agreement was forced on the then princely State of Travancore presently, part of Kerala, but the pact was validated yet again in 1970 by Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been arguing about the Mullaperiyar dam built under a co-signed agreement in 1886 between the Maharaja of Travancore and the British authorities. The dam, which is located in the Idukki district of Kerala , serves the districts of Tamil Nadu which  in recent years, has  made demands  that the storage capacity of the dam be increased from 136 feet (41.5 m) to 142 feet (43 m) to meet the rising demand of water needed for irrigation. However, Kerala is asking for the construction of a new dam saying that the existing structure had outlived its safety and longevity. Tamil Nadu, insists that raising water levels in Mullaperiyar’s reservoir is necessary to irrigate large tracts in the state.

In 1998, all Mullaperiyar-related cases were transferred to the Supreme Court which, in its order of February 2006, observed that the dispute is not a ‘water dispute’. It allowed raising the reservoir level to 43.28 metres and directed Tamil Nadu to carry out the strengthening measures suggested by cwc, and restrained Kerala from causing any obstruction.

In March 2006 Kerala’s Legislative Assembly passed the Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation Amendment Act, 2006. The amendment empowered Kerala’s Dam Safety Authority (kdsa)— a body mandated in 2003 by the original Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation Act—to evaluate safety of all dams in the state. It also has the power to advise the government to suspend the functioning or to decommission a dam if public safety demanded. Twenty two dams constructed during 1895-1963 including the Mullaperiyar dam were brought under kdsa’s jurisdiction. 41.45 metres was fixed as safe height for Mullaperiyar’s reservoir. Tamil Nadu took the matter back to the Supreme Court. It filed a petition on March 31, 2006 to declare the Kerala act as unconstitutional.

In July 2009, the Kerala  government  has claimed  that with the  building  of a new dam, 1,300 feet downstream of the present Mullaperiyar reservoir,  the safety of  the people  of Kerala can be a assured  from the existing high-risk structure, which can fail at  any time , endangering lives, according to news sources.

A detailed report of this issue had been presented to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking sanction for decommissioning of the existing dam and building a new one in its place.

In October 2009, the Chief Minister of Kerala V.S. Achuthanandan requested Tamil Nadu to be in agreement with its demand for a new dam at Mullaperiyar as the present one had become obsolete. According to news sources, he supported his stand by claiming that a recent study by IIT, Roorkee had discovered that the dam would collapse if  at any time an earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale happened and that  nearly forty lakh people who were fearfully anticipating this  have to be reassured by allowing the new dam to be built.

But the beginning of 2010 saw Tamil Nadu once again rejecting the idea of constructing the new dam over the Periyar River. Kerala though seemed sure that it has every reason to be successful in its demand for a new dam because in 1979 the proposal had been cleared for approval by the Centre. This, according to them was agreed upon by Tamil Nadu which they claim took a step back later.

In Feb 2010, the Chief Minister of Kerala applauded the Supreme Court ruling demanding a review of the safety aspect of the Mullaperiyar. The apex court appointed a senior committee to study the safety of the dam, discuss increasing its water level above 136 feet and evaluate Kerala’s demand for a new dam. The Supreme Court appointed former chief justice of India A.S. Anand as the chairperson of a techno-legal panel formed to examine the strength and capacity of the more than a century old Mullaperiyar dam in Kerala.

In March 2010, according to news sources , Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi  said that Tamil Nadu would never give up its rights over the Mullaperiyar dam  since that would  create problems for farmers in that  area.

People in Kerala feel that the 1886 deed should not be continued since it was forced upon the Travancore ruler. In 1970, Kerala did revise the original deed and got fishing rights. It also increased the rent to Rs 30 an acre (0.4 ha) from Rs 5, but water remained free for Tamil Nadu.

People in Tamil Nadu argue that Kerala is eyeing extra water from the Mullaperiyar reservoir to generate electricity. Power generation at the Idukki reservoir, downstream of the Mullaperiyar dam will come to a halt if the reservoir level is increased from 41.45 metres to 46.3 metres, Sadasivan points out. The Kerala government, however, maintains that the Idukki project was designed after discounting the 46.3 metres water storage in the Mullaperiyar dam.

Farmers in Tamil Nadu maintain that water rights have already been established during the past century and cannot be reverted. The Kerala government, however, argues that the gross area irrigated by the Mullaperiyar reservoir actually increased from 24,280 ha in 1896 to 69,200 ha in 1970-71 (when the water level was 46.3 metres) to 92,670 ha in 1994-95 (when water level was reduced to 41.45 metres). But Tamil Nadu claims that this is due to the modernisation of Periyar-Vaigai project, which reduced seepage losses by 6.7 thousand million cubic feet.

In April 2010, according to news sources, Chief Minister of Kerala V.S. Achuthanandan has urged the Centre to look into the Mullaperiyar dam issue as directed by the Supreme Court immediately. News sources said he had concerns about the delay in constituting the committee for looking into the Mullaperiyar dam issue in an official letter to the Prime minister, Mr. Manmohan Singh. He said that the Centre’s delay in the committee constitution would undermine the essence of the Supreme Court’s directive.

A.R. Lakshmanan on Mullaperiyar Panel 21.04.2010

Justice A.R. Lakshmanan, former Judge of the Supreme Court, will represent Tamil Nadu on the Empowered Committee to go into all issues, including the safety aspects, of the Mullaperiyar dam, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi told the Assembly on 21.04.2010.

Making a suo motu statement in the House, the Chief Minister said the State government had now decided to have its nominee on the panel since the outcome of the case in the Supreme Court was crucial for Tamil Nadu.

The committee, headed by Justice A.S. Anand, former Chief Justice of India, was appointed by a five-member bench of the Supreme Court.

The DMK took a stand against the panel and the general council meeting of the party on February 20 passed a resolution declaring that there was no need for Tamil Nadu to nominate its representative for the panel.

The Chief Minister said on March 8 Tamil Nadu filed a recall petition against the Empowered Committee in the Supreme Court, arguing that there was no need to appoint a new committee, since the court had already taken a decision on all aspects of the case. But on April 5, the Centre wrote to the State government, urging immediate nomination of a representative for the panel, in the wake of the dismissal of recall petition against the appointment of the Empowered Committee. On March 3, the Centre wrote to Tamil Nadu for appointment of a member for the panel.

Mr. Karunanidhi said the State government had also consulted the Advocate General before taking the decision on having its nominee on the panel.

Current situation

In a rare unity in the Kerala assembly, the 141-member house unanimously passed a resolution that the central government should sanction a new dam to replace the leaking, masonry Mullaperiyar in Idukki district.

This is the third unanimous resolution passed by the Kerala assembly demanding a new dam. The first was passed in 1993 when K. Karunakaran of the Congress was the chief minister and the next came in 2009 when V.S. Achuthanandan of the CPI-M was heading the state government.

When Chief Minister Oommen Chandy read out the resolution that the only way to end the current impasse is a new dam and till that time the water level in the 115-year-old dam be reduced to 120 feet, it was welcomed by all members with the thumping of desks.

The three-and-half hours long debate saw members from both the treasury and opposition benches agreeing that the house was worried about the safety of the over a century old earthen dam as it could endanger the lives of over four million people in and around the five districts near it.

Leader of Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan went to the extent of demanding the resignation of Revenue Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan for the remark made by Advocate General K.P. Dandapani in the Kerala High Court last week on the Mullaperiyar Dam.

It was reported in the media that Dandapani had said there was no relation between water level and the safety of the dam. He appeared before the cabinet and pointed out that he never said such a thing.

Kerala is worried that a strong earthquake might damage the dam and cause widespread destruction. It is seeking a new dam and has offered to fund and build it, but Tamil Nadu does not agree. Experts from Kerala side say if a quake strikes and the dam is damaged, over four million people and their property in districts of Idukki, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Ernakulam and parts of Thrissur would be washed away.

Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been at loggerheads over the dam, built under an 1886 accord between the then Maharaja of Travancore and the erstwhile British Raj. It is located in Kerala and its waters also serve Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu wants the dam’s storage capacity to be increased by raising the dam height from 136 feet (41.5 metre) to 142 feet (43 metre) as the state’s irrigation needs have shot up.

Mullaperiyar issue has sown the seeds of mutual distrust between people on either side of the 116-year-old dam, but nobody wants a harvest of hate.

Supreme Court tells Kerala, Tamil Nadu not to arouse people’s feelings

There is nothing serious, grave or emergent about the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam warranting our interference at this stage, the Supreme Court observed on 13.12.2011 and asked Tamil Nadu and Kerala not to arouse people’s feelings and create a fear psychosis.

The Empowered Committee, headed by the former Chief Justice of India, A.S. Anand, was looking into all aspects regarding the safety of the dam and no order was required at this stage, observed a five-judge Constitution Bench comprising Justices D.K. Jain, R.M. Lodha, C.K. Prasad, Deepak Verma and Anil R. Dave.

The Bench, however, said the apprehensions of Kerala regarding the safety of the dam could not be brushed aside since the water level in the dam had gone up beyond 136 ft on four days from November 26 to December 2, coupled with earthquakes.

The Bench made it clear to Tamil Nadu that it should maintain the water level at 136 ft.

The Bench was hearing applications filed by Kerala, to reduce the water level in the dam from 136 ft to 120 ft, and Tamil Nadu for deployment of CISF for protection of the dam and to pass an order to restrain Kerala Ministers and officials from making statements creating fear psychosis among the people about the safety of the dam.

Kalam favours armed forces for maintaining rivers, dams

Amid the friction between Tamil Nadu and Kerala over the Mullaperiyar dam issue, former President A P J Abdul Kalam on 14.12.2011 said the country cannot afford a civil war on water and suggested deployment of armed forces to maintain rivers and dams. “Water cannot be a (source of) conflict in India. India cannot afford a civil war on water… Indian rivers and dams have to be operated and maintained by army, navy or other armed forces for equitable distribution,” he said.

Mr. Kalam said chief ministers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala should reach for an amicable solution to the issue. “It is not wise to discuss the issue through media,” he cautioned. Strongly batting for interlinking of rivers, he said the country was “not prepared” to face natural disasters caused by floods. “India needs visionaries to launch a river linking project which may have to be completed in two decades and not a five year plan which will fit into politics…,” he said.

Later talking to reporters, he suggested a National Water Grid Management scheme which could be one of the mechanisms to resolve inter-state disputes. “Like national highways and the Central Power Grid, my suggestion is a National Water Grid Management (to resolve water disputes)…,” he said.

Kerala parties agree to call off stirs over Mullaperiyar

A day after the Supreme Court asked both Kerala and Tamil Nadu to cool tempers, major political parties of Kerala, including the Congress and the Left parties, on 14.12.2011 announced that they were calling off their respective agitations over the Mullaperiyar dam issue. Representatives of the parties said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had assured them he would do his best to find an amicable solution to the issue over which political parties and organisations in Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been pitted against each other in recent weeks.

Dr. Manmohan Singh, who met an all-party delegation from Kerala at Parliament House, stressed on the need to create a conducive atmosphere in both States. He wanted politicians and others to restrain themselves as the Supreme Court was already seized of the matter, and not to do anything that might aggravate the situation. The delegation was led by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and the former Chief Minister, V.S. Achuthanandan.

Tamil Nadu MPs’ protest

Meanwhile, a group of Congress MPs from Tamil Nadu, led by TNCC president K. Gnanadesikan and Dindigul MP N.S.V. Chithan, staged a demonstration near the Gandhi statue in the Parliament complex seeking deployment of the personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force in the Mullaperiyar dam area.

They also wanted the Centre to advise Kerala to allow an increase in the water level in the reservoir to 142 feet from the present 136 feet.

TN Assembly asks Kerala to amend Act for raising water level

The Tamil Nadu Assembly on 15.12.2011, in a special sitting, adopted a unanimous resolution, calling upon the Kerala government to make suitable amendments to the Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2006 to enable the water level of the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam to be raised to 142 feet. Moved by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, the resolution also asked the Kerala government not to create hurdles to the execution of the remaining strengthening measures for facilitating the water level to be raised to 152 ft eventually.

Mullaiperiyar: Empowered Committee leave no stone unturned

The members of the Supreme Court-appointed Empowered Committee’s panel inspected the Vaigai Dam and an electricity sub-station at the Lower Camp on 25.12.2011.

Led by former Chief Justice of India A S Anand, the panel members — Justices A R Lakshmanan and K T Thomas, C D Thatte and K K Mehta — have been on a visit to the Mullaiperiyar dam and adjoining areas to file a report before the Supreme Court on how to resolve the dispute between Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The Committee has been collecting details about the stability of the dam from December 21. On December 23 and 24, 2011, the expert committee visited Idukki dam, Periyar dam, baby dam and its adjoining ones. On 25.12.2011, the members reviewed the water outlets of the Mullaiperiyar dam in TN.

Chief Engineer of Kerala Irrigation Department P Lathika, Periyar Dam Committee member James Wilson, Tamil Nadu Cauvery Technology Committee head Subramaniam, PWD Chief Engineer Rajagopal, Periyar-Vaigai Chief Engineer Sampath Kumar and others accompanied them.

The team inspected the smaller dams, Iraichal Palam and pipes for pumping out water during emergency situations in the Kumily-Lower Camp forest area. The team members also examined Periyar Hydraulic Power Station at the Lower Camp. As the dam was constructed using the surkhi ( a mixture containing burnt brick powder), the expert committee also took samples of limestone near the Lower Camp.

While inspecting the Vaigai dam, the committee opened the shutters to check their functioning and interacted with the engineers to know about the water outlets. The team also reviewed the Madurai-Sedapatti water supply system near Muthalakampatti and Peranai at Nilakottai near Dindigul.

Honour Supreme Court’s Verdict

In her memorandum dt 25.12.2011, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Ms. Jayalalithaa urged Dr. Singh to advise the Kerala government to honour the Supreme Court’s February 27, 2006 order, allowing the raising of the water level initially from 136 to 142 feet. She sought his intervention to make appropriate amendments to the Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2006.

Ms. Jayalalithaa said Dr. Singh should advise Kerala not to venture upon the construction of a new dam, since the retrofitted dam was safe and functioning well. Besides asking for the deployment of the Central Industrial Security Force and removal of all encroachments in the leased area, she said the Prime Minister should order the National Disaster Management Authority to withdraw its notification forming a team of experts to prepare a contingency response plan.

May consider security for Mullaperiyar dam

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 26.12.2011 reportedly assured DMK that the Centre might consider providing security cover to Mullaperiyar dam over which Tamil Nadu and Kerala are locked in a raging row. According to Karunanidhi, Singh also said the Centre might examine the possibility of protecting the dam by itself. The DMK had earlier requested the chairman of the Supreme Court-appointed Empowered Committee on the dam issue to deploy Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at the reservoir site, instead of Kerala police.

Mullaperiyar, Idukki dams safe, experts tell panel- 3.01.2012

Allaying the apprehensions of the people of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the two technical experts of the Supreme Court appointed-Empowered Committee (EC) on 3.01.2012 informed the Committee that the recent tremors in that region did not have any impact on the Mullaperiyar and Idukki dams and that the dams were safe.

The two members — the former Secretary to the Union Ministry of Water Resources, C.D. Thatte, and retired Chief Engineer, Central Water Commission, D.K. Mehta — had inspected all the dams in and around the Mullaperiyar catchment area to ascertain their safety in the wake of the recent earthquakes.

The inspection came after Kerala filed an application seeking to bring on record the recent earthquakes and pleading for an oral hearing. The Committee had asked two of its members to conduct an on-the-spot inspection and submit a report.

The report was submitted to the EC’s head, the former Chief Justice of India, A.S. Anand. The other members on the Committee are retired Supreme Court Judges K.T. Thomas (representing Kerala) and A.R. Lakshmanan (representing Tamil Nadu).

At the meeting on 3.01.2012, the EC considered the report and the objections raised by Kerala during the inspection of the dam. The report concluded that the tremors did not have any impact on the Mullaperiyar dam and there was no danger to its safety.

The Committee took serious exception to the objection raised by Kerala that the views of the two members could not be construed as the views of the EC. It was pointed out that the EC had passed a resolution at an earlier meeting authorising the two technical members to carry out the inspection. The procedure adopted by the members could not be faulted by the Kerala government, it said.

The EC also considered the reports, studies and investigations conducted by various agencies constituted by it to go into the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam. The various tests and studies undertaken by the Committee are: scanning the up-steam face of the dam using remote-operated vehicle and digital camera by the Central Soil and Materials Research Station (CSMRS), Delhi; non-destructive test by the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS), Pune; cable anchor stress test; study by the Geological Survey of India; bathymetric survey by the CWPRS; material testing by the CSMRS and the CWPRS; seepage study by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC); flood study by the Central Water Commission (CWC); testing of the cores by the CWPRS/ CSMRS; in situ tests and stability check, both by the CWPRS; and checking of measuring instruments used in the dam.

The panel will meet again on January 24 and 25, 2012 to consider the modalities of finalising its report to be submitted to the Supreme Court, as its term ends in February, 2012.

The panel once again rejected Kerala’s request for copies of reports of various agencies, stating that such a request had already been rejected.