Kerala fails to submit revised detailed project report on Mullaperiyar dam, reveals RTI

An RTI has revealed that Kerala Water Resources Department has failed to execute its order for revision of its detailed project report to enable reconstruction of the 127-year-old Mullaperiyar dam. Documents reveal that the Water Resources Department which constituted a 10-member expert committee for the revision of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the study and subsequent construction of the New Mullaperiyar dam in February this year had directed the committee to submit a new DPR.

The time frame given to submit the report was for two months. However, an RTI filed by activist Dhanraj in October this year, 8 months after the order was given, the expert committee has failed to deliver the assigned job to conduct the study to revise the old detailed projects report. The government in the RTI response reveals:

“Till date the expert committee has not submitted the DPR for the construction of Mullaperiyar.”

The revision was advised to comply with the latest guidelines issued by the Central Water Commission for the Environmental Impact Assessment. The government order ( 102/2021/WRD) dated February 12, 2021, had created an expert committee that was headed by Alex Varghese, Chief Engineer of Inter-State Water Cell to comprehensively prepare the detailed project report.

The February order stated, “The government is pleased to constitute the expert committee for time bound completion of a detailed project report for the new Mullaperiyar Dam."

The 10-member committee consisted of Chief Engineer D Biju (IDRB), Director of IDRB R Priyesh, Superintending Engineer Bajee Chandran along with a host of other experts including top officials from the Hydrology Division and Irrigation Design and Research Board.

“On one hand, the life of about 30 lakh citizens hangs in balance, meanwhile due to red tapism and slow administration, a work which was supposed to be completed in 2 months has not been submitted. This exposes the double speak of the government, for an issue that needs utmost dedication and concerted efforts,” said Dhanraj.

Chorus grows to decommission the dam, celebrities lend voice 

The chorus for decommissioning the dam began after a graphic video of the aftermath of the breakage of Mullaperiyar went viral. Soon, Malayalam superstar Prithviraj Sukumaran took to Twitter demanding decommissioning of the dam. “Regardless of what the facts and findings are or will be, there is no reason or excuse for this 125 year old dam to exist as a functioning structure! It’s about time we put politics and economics aside and do what is right.[sic],” he had tweeted.

Actor Unni Mukundan and writer and director Murali Gopi also took to social media to share similar sentiments. Meanwhile, environmental crusaders in Kerala have been working to bring the issue to national attention as well. Advocate Russel Joy had submitted a representation to the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Southern Naval Command Vice-Admiral Anil Kumar Chawla stating that breakage of the dam would destroy critical military installations in Kerala. An e-petition submitted by Russell to the Prime Minister of India in change.org platform has garnered over 7.9 lakh signatures. 

Tamil Nadu CM gives a sympathetic ear to Kerala’s demand?

In a response to the letter sent by Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan to Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin's response hinted at a willingness to attend to the woes of the people of Kerala. “I wish to assure you that we will stand with you during these difficult times and would extend any help that is needed to alleviate the suffering of the people,” Stalin had written on October 27.  
As for Tamil Nadu, the dam which provides water to 6 districts of the state is of existential importance. The matter is still in the Supreme Court and recently the court gave an interim order favouring Kerala's demand to keep the water level at 139.5 cm. Till November 10. The next hearing is on November 11.

(Image: Kerala government)