The Hindu
In its response to Kerala's affidavit filed before the committee on
Thursday, Tamil Nadu said the Mullaperiyar dam was safe and that it had
been permitted by the Supreme Court to raise the water level up to 142
ft. File photo
“Reported panic and bandhs are all creations of Kerala government”
Tamil Nadu on Friday refuted Kerala's allegation before
the Empowered Committee, headed by the former Chief Justice of India,
A.S. Anand, that the Mullaperiyar dam was not safe if the water level
was maintained at 136 ft. and that it should be reduced to 120 ft.
In
its response to Kerala's affidavit filed before the committee on
Thursday, the State reiterated that the dam was safe and that it had
been permitted by the Supreme Court to raise the water level up to 142
ft. and further raise it to 152 ft. after completing the remaining
strengthening measures.
Tamil Nadu made it clear
that the question of considering a new dam would arise only after the
Supreme Court rendered its decision. It denied Kerala's assertion that
22 earthquakes/tremors occurred in the region between July 26 and
November 26 and said according to the information obtained from the
India Meteorological Department, there had been only four occurrences of
earthquake in the Kottayam-Idukki region during this period.
“False propaganda”
Tamil
Nadu said: “The false propaganda of 22 tremors in the last 4 months
resulting in the dam being unsafe is being made without any basis. In
fact, there have been only four tremors in the current year and in fact
such tremors have been occurring over many years. But, none of them have
had any impact on Mullaperiyar dam as their magnitudes were far below
4.9 and classified as ‘slight' by the IMD. However, the Mullaperiyar Dam
is designed to withstand earthquakes that could possibly occur in the
Zone III as per earthquake zonal map.”
On the
outflow of water from the dam, Tamil Nadu said it was strange to contend
that even for an outflow of 15,032 cusecs, there was panic among the
people. The outflow had been much more than 15,000 cusecs on many
occasions in the past and this was very negligible when compared to the
design flood of 2.12. lakh cusecs (Probable Maximum Flood level) as per
the Central Water Commission. Indeed, the actual flow of 15,032 cusecs
was only a miniscule 7 per cent of the design flood of 2.12 lakh cusecs.
Tamil
Nadu said: “The reported panic among the public and the bandhs and
hartals, etc. are all creations of the Kerala government. There is no
need for any panic as the dam has been strengthened sufficiently.” It
sought rejection of Kerala's application.
