Kerala to build new dam at Mullaperiyar

Even as the stalemate with Tamil Nadu continues over the Mullaperiyar dam, the Kerala government has said it will go ahead and construct a new dam.

State chief minister VS Achuthanandan told the Kerala Assembly that the state was gearing up to initiate measures to build a new dam in Mullaperiyar.

According to the chief minister, further course of action will be decided soon after the apex court's stance in the case is known.

Significantly, the statement comes just a day prior to the Supreme Court taking up the Mullaperiyar case. The state is confident that it would be able to convince the Supreme Court when the case is taken up for hearing on Tuesday.

Earlier, Kerala's minister for water resources NK Premachandran had clarified that the state would construct a new dam unilaterally, if the Tamil Nadu government was against the idea.

According to the minister, construction of a new dam would be the only permanent solution to the whole issue.

Suggesting that Kerala was open for talks with Tamil Nadu to help resolve the issue, Premachandran expressed surprise at the latter's indifference to the issue.

Pointing out that Kerala would only be happy to provide sufficient water to the farmers of Theni and Kambam, in Tamil Nadu, the minister said saving the lives of 5 million people living downstream was also of prime concern.

Achuthanandan, meanwhile, also drew attention to the fact that the age of the dam makes it a matter of concern as a disaster would be of huge magnitude.

He added that the state government would start construction of a new dam with central assistance soon after the apex court makes its stance clear.

According to experts, the Mullaperiyar dam across river Periyar in Idukki district, commissioned in 1895, was constructed at a time when the technology for building dams was much inferior.

Now, 112 years later, the dam has rendered itself weak and unsafe. Tamil Nadu's stance that the storage capacity of the dam be raised from 136 ft to 142 ft to meet the increasing demand for water for irrigation in its territory is being seen by Kerala as leading to a disastrous situation.