Centre directs Kerala to allow Tamil Nadu govt to do repair work at Mullaperiyar Baby dam

Responding to a recent letter by the Kerala government, the Centre expressed the need to repair the age-old Baby Dam at Mullaperiyar Reservoir and has further sought the state to permit the Tamil Nadu administration for repairing the dam as its safety cannot be compromised.

The Union government also took serious note of the ongoing dispute on the maintenance of the water level between Kerala and Tamil Nadu and notified that the necessary interim orders have been issued to the concerned authorities and to the supervisory committee to take appropriate actions.

Centre directs Kerala to allow Tamil Nadu to do repair work at Mullaperiyar dam

The Joint Secretary to the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, under the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti Sanjay Awasthi, wrote to the Additional Chief Secretary to the Local Self Government Department of Kerala regarding the ongoing dispute on the Mullaperiyar Dam and had directed him to convince the Kerala state government to allow Tamil Nadu government to take appropriate measures for repairing the century-old dam.

Awasthi has also reverted to the state government’s letter (dated October 23) written to the Union Ministry expressing concerns about the rising water levels in the Mullaperiyar water reservoir.

The responsible authorities and the Supervisory Committee have been issued necessary interim directives, according to the Union Ministry, to take suitable decisions to maintain the appropriate water levels in the dam reservoir. According to Awasthi, the Supervisory Committee checks the reservoir water levels at the Mullaperiyar Dam on an hourly basis. In addition, in accordance with the Supreme Court's ruling of October 25, a meeting of the Supervisory Committee was conducted the next day, on October 26, through video-conferencing, to address the urgent issues of rising water levels in the dam, the letter to the Kerala government stated.

The letter read, "To ensure that the safety of Mullaperiyar Dam is not compromised, the Kerala government should allow works necessary to strengthen Baby dam and earthen dam, as well as repair, works to the approach Ghat Road, as proposed by the Tamil Nadu government." 

The letter is significant since the Kerala government just three days ago overturned an order issued by Chief Wildlife Warden (CWW) Bennichan Thomas allowing Tamil Nadu's request to down 15 trees downstream of the Mullaperiyar Baby dam. Thomas was suspended the same day for failing to notify the (Kerala) government about the directive.

Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been at odds over the century-old dam, with the former saying that the reservoir is unsafe and demanding that a new one be built in its place, while the latter insists that it is sturdy.

Image: PTI