Chief Minister Oommen Chandy wrote to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Thursday urging her to take steps to reduce the water level in the Mullaperiyar reservoir to 120 feet, an official release said.
In a letter to his Tamil Nadu counterpart, Mr. Chandy said that urgent measures were called for because of the recurring tremours in Idukki district. As many as 26 tremours had occurred in five months and the water level in the reservoir was dangerously high (at 136 feet).
The Chief Minister said that Tamil Nadu should act considering the safety of the people of Kerala without waiting for the final decision on legal and technical issues before the Supreme Court and its empowered committee.
He assured that Tamil Nadu would continue to get water from the reservoir. However, the water level ought to be reduced considering the scare in Kerala over the safety of lakhs of people. The condition of the dam had always been a matter of concern for the State. Now, the recurring tremours and high water level were causing panic.
Attaching details of the tremours that had occurred in the area since July this year, the Chief Minister said that the recent tremour measured 3.8 on the Richter Scale of magnitude. Studies by the IIT, Roorkie, had shown that earthquakes of magnitude exceeding six on the Richter Scale would damage the dam. The Delhi IIT had warned of high water levels in its study.
Mr. Chandy noted that millions of people in Idukki, Kottayam, Pathanamthitat, Alappuzha and Ernakulam districts would be affected if the Mullaperiyar dam failed. Kerala could not be silent about risk as none could assure that the dam would not fail.
