Kerala Minister for Revenue Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan on Sunday said that the Tamil Nadu Public Works Department has been asked to provide data on the seepage level in the Mullaperiyar Dam.
Addressing journalists after visiting the century-old dam here in the wake of reports of damage caused to it by a tremor, the Minister said Tamil Nadu officials had agreed to provide the data.
“The official data is with Tamil Nadu and only after getting the data on the previous level of seepage in the dam and comparing it with the current levels can one summarise whether the tremor had resulted in cracks,” the Minister said.
He added that experts from Kerala are also looking in to the aspect. “We will have a comparative study of the data provided by the Tamil Nadu and our experts,” he said. The experts will also look in to whether more additional water flow has been reported between the joints of the block number 17 and 18 as reported.
Mr. Radhakrishnan said that he and the expert team could not notice seepage level at a higher level on Sunday. The disaster management cell will be strengthened immediately and there was no need for any apprehension. In reply to a query, the Minister said he could not comment on the present condition of the dam as the issue was under the consideration of the empowered committee of the Supreme Court. A decision would be taken in this regard by the apex court soon, he said. The Minister was accompanied by Deputy Leader of the Opposition Kodieri Balakrishnan. P.T.Thomas, M.P, district panchayat president Alex Kozhimala, MLAs E.S. Bijimol, K.K. Jayachandran and S.Rajendran.
