Later, the capacity was increased to MW. Safety concerns around the dam date back to the early s, when media reported it was unsafe. Kerala brought up the issue before the Central Water Commission in After a joint inspection by Kerala and Tamil Nadu in , the water level was reduced for the first time, from ft to ft.
In the years that followed, Tamil Nadu witnessed public agitations demanding that the level be increased; Kerala opposed the demand. Over the years, petitions have been filed in the high courts of both states.
These were subsequently transferred to the Supreme Court. In , the Centre appointed an expert committee to look into safety and suggest storage levels. In , the Supreme Court allowed Tamil Nadu to raise the water level to ft. It said after completing strengthening work, the level could be restored to ft if an expert committee examined and recommended it.
Since then, the issue has shifted to the safety of the dam. In , the Kerala Cabinet permitted preliminary work on a new dam. The dam is ft high and ft long. Its construction began in and was completed in The first dam, which was built by the British Corps of Royal Engineers, was washed away by floods.
Thereafter, a second stonework dam was built in The dam's purpose was to divert the waters of the west-flowing River Periyar eastward to the arid rain shadow regions of the Theni, Madurai, Sivaganga and Ramanathapuram districts of Tamil Nadu. Many houses have been submerged since the dam opened at 7am on Friday, however, no untoward incident was reported. Water from the Mullaperiyar dam is being released to maintain its level at feet and will reach Idukki reservoir in two hours.
If need arises, Idukki dam might be opened too to ease the pressure, people familiar with the matter said. Kerala water resources minister Roshy Augustine, in a press release issued on Thursday, urged people not to panic and added that there was nothing to be concerned about.
He said the storage capacity of Idukki was The Supreme Court on Thursday asked Kerala and Tamil Nadu governments to abide by the decision taken by the Supervisory Committee regarding the appropriate water level in the Mullaperiyar dam. The supervisory committee has recommended maintaining the Mullaperiyar dam water level at The letter also shows that Tamil Nadu sought the removal of 23 trees to widen the base of the existing Baby Dam and earthen bund to strengthen the structure at Mullaperiyar Dam.
But permission was granted to clear 15 trees within an approximate area of 40 cents falling within the leased area of Tamil Nadu at the Mullaperiyar Dam site. That such an order was granted came to the knowledge of Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan after Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin wrote to him on November 6 thanking him for granting the long-pending request.
State BJP chief K Annamalai accused the DMK government of not following the due procedure while opening the dam due to the heavy rains and landslides in Kerala last month. Why were they not present? On Monday night, water resources department minister S Duraimurugan responded that the dam was opened in the presence of officers of his department by following norms of the Rule Curve approved by the Central Water Commission CWC.
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