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I am a regular reader of DTE, and I take all your reports very seriously as an environment professionla myself. But sadly i...
Aditya Lele
Keeping in purview the problems and difficulties faced by the daily commuters form Meerut and adjoining area to Noida and...
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Mullaperiyar controversy swings in TN's favour
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Date: Jan 4, 2012
Supreme Court appointed panel upholds strength of dam structure; says it need not be dismantled
Tamil Nadu has sought an increase in the dam's storage height from 41.5 metre to 43 metre as its irrigation needs have increased
Although the five-member Empowered Committee appointed by the Supreme Court is yet to compile its report on the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam structure, sources say that its two-member technical team has said there is no need to decommission the existing dam.
The committee gave a final hearing opportunity to both parties representing Tamil Nadu and Kerala on January 3, and is expected to meet later this month to finalise the report. The committee, thanks to an extension granted by the court until February 29, intends to submit its findings on February 15.
Tamil Nadu has sought an increase in the dam's storage height from 41.5 metre to 43 metre as their irrigation needs have increased. Kerala is worried about the strength of the structure and is seeking immediate reduction in the water levels to 36.5 metre, and thereafter build a new dam. The state has offered to fund and build it, but Tamil Nadu has flatly refused the offer.
Kerala has maintained that the only solution is to establish a new dam downstream of the existing structure (See: Blunder 999). An alternative proposal has been made by C P Roy, former chairman of the Mullaperiyar Agitation Council (MAC). The proposal came as a shocker, and he was removed from the post on December 27, 2011. The MAC is of the view that a new dam alone can ensure the safety of people living downstream of the structure. Roy proposed that the minimum point of release of water from the reservoir, presently at 31.7 metre, should be reduced to 15.24 metre. This, he says, can be done at a fraction of the estimated Rs 600 crore needed to build a new dam, without having to deal with any of the hassles of decommissioning an existing structure. By doing so the dead or inactive storage (water in the reservoir that cannot be drained by gravity) will as a result be reduced, which can then be made available to Tamil Nadu. This proposal, according to Roy, will ensure the safety of people living downstream by lowering the water levels, all the while supplying water from the existing dam to Tamil Nadu.
“This is impractical because it will still lower the amount of stored water,” says M Sasidharan, former chief engineer of the Kerala state electricity board. It is in Tamil Nadu's interest to store more water in the wet season for use in the lean summer months. The proposal is also unscientific, he adds, since the power generation potential will reduce with water gushing from a lower height. “Either way Tamil Nadu will throw away this proposal, since the topography downstream does not allow them to create a new dam to store the requisite water for irrigation,” he says.
To study the strength of the structure and whether a new dam is necessary, the empowered committee, formed in February 2010, met representatives of both states several times. The committee reviewed various studies and investigations by several agencies. The investigation itself, however, was not carried out without further controversy. During the site visit on December 24, Kerala's representatives voiced concern over the technical team acted in a partisan manner. C D Thatte, former secretary of the Union ministry of water resources and one of the technical members was accused of expediting civil works. This was beyond their mandate of investigating the safety of the dam structure; Thatte is also believed to have openly said that the dam can be rectified and its life extended, which has irked officials representing Kerala.
The technical team has submitted its findings to the committee and has remained tight lipped on the issue. “I can't brief you till my involvement is over,” said Thatte in an email response to Down To Earth.
Can anyone please tell me what is the design period of a dam which is built on limestone and surky?
Anonymous
C.P. Roy former chairman of the Mullaperiyar Agitation Council which is spearheading an agitation for a new dam at Mullaperiyar, has put forth an alternative proposal for ensuring the safety of the people downstream of the dam while ensuring the same quantity or more water from the existing dam to Tamil Nadu.
He said by keeping the water level at 100 ft from the existing maximum level of 136 ft, it is possible.
In an interview with him at Kottayam on Saturday, he said that his proposal ensures enough water to the five districts in Tamil and has been accepted by the major farmers organisation representing the districts. In the proposal, he said that the minimum draw level at the dam at present is 104 ft and only above the level there is live storage. By changing the face of the tunnel which connects water from the dam to the pen stock pipes in Tamil Nadu to 50 ft high from the reservoir and the dead storage could be reduced using the dead storage water to irrigate the Tamil Nadu farms.
By changing the face of the tunnel to the nearby dam structure, the water level stored at the dam could be made to a height of 100 ft.
He said that the Tamil Nadu has built dams to storage water at a level of six tmc of water in the Old Vaigai dam, four tmc in the New Vaigai dam, two tmc each in in the Rayapetty dam and 18th Canal and one tmc each in Gudalur, Shivaganga and Ramanathapuram projects. These projects are with a view to harvest and collect maximum water for irrigation purposes, he said.
``Kerala has all the rights to ask for power generated from the additional water given to Tamil Nadu than the existing level,'' he said.
``There is no alternative for the existing dam and a second dam is inconvenient and a third dam impossible,'' he said. The new dam proposed is 192 ft high and will considerably cause damage to the eco system of the Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR), he said.
While the dead storage is considerably reduced and water continuously drawn, there is no need for fear on account of a water induced tremor, he said, The new dam proposed is the seismic zone and a bigger dam will only further complicate the situation.
Even if the Supreme Court clears the proposal for a new dam, there are further hindrance in the form of a green signal from the green bench of the supreme court and environmental clearance in addition to the clearance by the Central Water Commission.
The Kabiny and Pampar projects are pending for more than a decade to get the clearance and India is a signatory to the Rio pact and the high cost and environmental damage to the internationally famous PTR should also be considered while proposing a new dam, he said.
This was a proposal put forward nearly five years back at the council meeting by him and he got support for it, he said and added that he did not understand why he had been targeted now for openly expressing his personal view. ``What needed is an immediate solution to the Mullaperiyar issue and the fear of the people on the downstream could be addressed while ensuring water to the Tamil Nadu farmers, he said.
He said that in the wake of the simmering tension across the border, the Mullaperiyar dam at the reduced water level could be made a symbol of friendship between the two States. Again by decommissioning the dam, the environmental hazard to be created by the material remains of the Mullaperiyar dam which has to be accommodated in the PTR or nearby areas is also high, he said.
Mr Roy said that only Rs 3 crore is required for changing the tunnel face near to the dam which is at present over two kilometers from the dam structure. The amount estimated for the new dam is Rs 630 crore which will be very high when the escalated final cost is estimated, he said. ``The Karappuzha project which started at an estimated cost of Rs 5 crore ended in the escalated cost of Rs 450 eating up on the State treasury, he said.
He said that Kerala has all the right to demand 140 mw electricity from Tamil Nadu form the additional water given as per this proposal and it will further benefit the power-starved State. ``These factor was not considered by the Maharaja of Travancore in the agreement when the Mullaperiyar dam was constructed and the C.Achutha Menon government when the agreement was renewed, he said.
``When the Kudankulam project in Tamil Nadu is completed it will become a power surplus state while Keral's power generation is at a concerned stage,'' he said. Tamil Nadu could be allowed the water from the existing dam as its downstream is not affected further and it is to be noted that it is the Peryar that constitutes the main tributary of the Idukki dam which produces nearly 40 to 42 percent of the total power generated in the State. ``If one feels that the dam at a100 ft height is water is also unsafe, it is possible to strengthen it using modern technology,'' he said.
Mr Roy said that as per the Rio agreement no river could be diverted totally against its natural stream because water is not only for man only but for all other living organism.
If the water level is reduced there will be a large area added to the natural forest of PTR and the criticism that it will affect boating and impact up on the economy of Thekkady does not hold water, he said. If the water level is reduced the present boat landing station is changed and it is possible to extend the present travel area to nearby dam providing further scope for tourism, Mr Roy said.
Moreover, by creating a natural path to allow visitors to Mangaladevi temple in a manner without affecting the environment, a large number of tourists including foreigners will come to Thekkady. ``Alternative tourism packages could be drawn with out damaging environment in Thekkady as it is to be noted that foreign tourists are more keen on trekking than boating as it is available in Kumarakom which is a connected tourism package to Thekkady and Munnar,'' he said and added that what is required is a will to find alternatives. The close neighbourly relationship between the people of Tamil Nadu and Kerala existed for centuries and it should not in any way disturbed for the sound prosperous economy of the two States.
Anonymous
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