As the row between Tamil Nadu and Kerala on the Mullaperiyar dam is generating a lot of heat both inside and outside Parliament, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is said to have hinted that the Centre is trying to work out an amicable settlement, including convening a meeting of between Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, Jayalalithaa and Oommen Chandy.
The Prime Minister is said to have told various delegations from the two States on Tuesday that the Centre was concerned as the issue involved the interests of the people of both the States and it would do whatever possible to resolve the matter at the earliest. He would discuss the issue with Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and see what could be done next.
A delegation of Union Ministers from Kerala, comprising Vayalar Ravi, E. Ahamed, K.V. Thomas and K.C. Venugopal; a group of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MPs from Tamil Nadu, led by T.R. Baalu; another group of Congress MPs from Tamil Nadu, led by K.S. Alagiri; and Kerala Water Resources Minister P.J. Joseph and Revenue Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan were among those who met Dr. Singh separately.
‘Sleepless nights'
Mr. Ahamed told The Hindu that his delegation conveyed the gravity of the situation in Kerala to the Prime Minister and explained how the people of Idukki and neighbouring districts were spending sleepless nights as the area had witnessed as many as 26 tremors since July. Dr. Singh promised to look into the issue immediately.
Mr. Venugopal said the Prime Minister was told that Kerala had promised that it would continue to supply water to Tamil Nadu even after the construction of a new dam. “We asked the Prime Minister to immediately intervene as the issue involved the lives of lakhs of people.”
Mr. Baalu said Dr. Singh was apprised of the “false propaganda” of Kerala about the dam's safety and how the State was flouting the Supreme Court direction in 2004 to increase the water level to 142 feet. Lakhs and lakhs of farmers and other people from five districts of Tamil Nadu would get affected if the State was deprived of water from the existing dam.
Plea to ban film
The delegation also wanted a countrywide ban on the screening of the film, Dam 999, which would create unnecessary fears in the minds of the people, he said.
Mr. Joseph said Kerala wanted to solve the issue amicably and it did not want to confront Tamil Nadu. The State had sought Dr. Singh's intervention to bring down the water level in the dam from the existing danger level of 136 feet to at least 127 feet.
Neutral-third party
Mr. Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan said if Tamil Nadu had any apprehension about a new dam, Kerala was even willing to hand over the maintenance of the new dam with a neutral-third party for continuous water supply to that State.
Echo in Parliament
Earlier MPs from Kerala and Tamil Nadu, cutting across party lines, disrupted the Parliament proceedings, shouting slogans for and against a new dam and later sat on dharnas separately in front of the Gandhi statue in the Parliament complex.
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi Lok Sabha member Thol. Thirumavalavan alleged that the new dam slogan was a ploy by Kerala to hoodwink Tamil Nadu people and deprive water later.
Kerala never been accepted their problems, just shifting their problem
to others, even Mullaai periyar Lake gets another new dam the real
problem can’t be solved and Keralites one day they'll realize and U
turn against their government and Idukki dam, the reason is simple
after constructing the Idukki dam they are getting more earth quakes
at nearby area, and these 550 ft high water leveled dam once
constructed check before and after construction, how many earth quakes
are recorded in these area, but Mullaiperiyar is far away from the
most of the epicenter of earth quakes. And 1985 onward linguistic
minority Tamil schools are slowly stopped at Idukki dt, , and
terminated many of Tamil teachers they are worked more than 10 years
but they worked like a bonded labour in a year 11 month and extended
another 11 months like, and against Tamils they used “10 paisa land
auctions” for their land all of the sudden most of the land owners are
landless saying various reasons, most of them they contested in the
court to get back their lands but simply solves the same problem by
Keralites by mean of money and officials are allowed to do very simply
procedures but not in this case of Tamils , in Kerala around 70% of
the electricity produced from Idukki dt, but Idukki district mostly
populated by Tamils they are neglected electricity and road, I known
one of them he applied electricity very first time at 1985 but he get
only 2010, that too “Kerala electric Board” peoples unload posts,
wires and materials somewhere but peoples are find and transported at
their rugged road by JEEP or by lifting all on the hills area (road?
Don’t ask about road) and post fixing, cable pulling ad other jobs are
done by peoples only never do by any of the officials, everything
privately they have to do and pay, by the way few years back only
power reaches to few, except 40% of the peoples still they are queue
at “Ration shop “ to get 2 Liters of Kerosene for lighting , but many
of them enjoying produced power to all over Kerala, in this case of
road mostly roads are made by peoples only, but Panchayat may be
allocate fund every year, but never completes except few , we can say
lot of truths, remains’ will come soon.
@P.Radhakrishnan .kerala is facing financial problem? very funny if we are buying your veg and fruits its not for free - we are giving money for that and just come and check here in Kerala how many tamil peole are working here....we are giving huge amount of money for them. Go and check your villages man and come see our villages...
Yes i agree to Mr.Anish. From what Mr.Radhakrishnan has posted here it is clear that he has not under stood the current situation. Mr.Radhakrishnan mentioned about Punjab sharing water with Rajasthan. Rajasthan pays Punjab for the water it uses. But in the case of Mullaperiyar, river is originating in Kerala, flows entirely through Kerala and the dam is situated completely inside Kerala border. Kerala govt. also stated that TN will get 20 tmc of water 3 tmc more than what TN gets currently. The cause for which TN opposes a new dam is that they will have to pay for water according to the current rate & not the old rate which was fixed 115 years ago by the British. See I am basically a Tamilian doing business in Kerala for past 9 yrs.I saw in news today that Keralites shops are being attacked in TN over issues regarding Mullaperiyar. My request to all the tamil makkal is to not to resort to such idiotism as it will affect tamils in Kerala. Until now there is no such situation in Kerala.
@ anish calling my comment "nonsense". When true facts are placed before you, you want to scuttle it by saying,"nonsense". You need not boast that Kerala is 'providing water,'without realizing the fact that Kerala is not a separate country but a State within the Indian Union. Rivers belong to the nation, and that is why Punjab is sharing water with a desert-region like Rajasthan.
for your kind information Mr P.Radhakrishnan whatever you are saying
is a complete non sense,the fact that kerala is providing you water is
more than enough,you should be thankful to kerala,you dont know even a
single damn think about mullaperriyar dam,you are just commenting on
and on.
Dont u know that this dam is more than 100 years old,it is not strong
enough to face an earthquake.It has outlived its expected life span of
50 years.Strengthening the existing dam has its limitations and may
not prove to be effective in the event of a disaster.The dam was
constructed using lime and mortar.Seepage and leaks from the dam have
caused concern.The dam is situated in a seismically active zone.CESS
has reported an earthquake measuring 4.5on the Richter scale occured
on June7,1988 with maximum damage in Nedumkandam&Kallar(within 20kms
of the dam).there would be a disaster in the economy of both kerala
and TN.so my dear mr radhakrishnan first go and have a detail study on
mullaperiyar dam
@nobiraj has called my statement'rubbish' and thereby has exposed his
ignorance.Let me reiterate Mullaperiyar is not at all in the seismic
zone. The most vulnerable areas, according to the present seismic zone
map of India, are located in the Himalayan and sub-Himalayan regions,
Kutch and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Depending on varying
degrees of seism city, the entire country can be divided into the
following seismic regions:
Kashmir and Western Himalayas - Covers the states of Jammu and
Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and sub-mountainous areas of Punjab
Central Himalayas - Includes the mountain and sub-mountain regions of
Uttar Pradesh and the sub-mountainous parts of Punjab
North-east India - Comprises the whole of Indian territory to the east
of north Bengal Indo-Gangetic basin and Rajasthan - This region
comprises of Rajasthan, plains of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and
West Bengal Cambay and Rann of Kutch.
So it is clear the "Earth Quake' bogey was raised to demolish the dam
KOODANKULAM = MULLAPERIYAR
It is just a common sense that both are exactly the same. As the
whole of the Tamil public and politicians(all the mutually fighting
politicial parties) have raised
the concerns and highest level agitations, including attacking and
destroying public properties against 9200MW Koodankulam Nuclear Power
plant. Will Tamilnadu(both
the public & the government) be ready for supplying Electricity for
999 years, almost free of cost(negligible price), at the risk of
Tamilians from Koodankulam
??????????? Let it be safe or less safe or even our most prominent
Scientis, APJ Abdul Kalam confirm its security even in case of the
worst natural disasters like
heavy Tsunami or tremendous earthquakes, Nobody will be willing to
stay near to such a Nuclear plant, keeping in mind High-Tech Safe
Fukushima Nuclear Disaster, as a
result of Japan earthquake. The same Tamil politicians & the public
should also think the same risk of life & property in Mullaperiyar.
Human beings are same : Their
life, dignity, value - let it be Tamilian or Malayali. As
Koodankulam is just 100km away from Thiruvananthapuram, any leak/blast
will affect Kerala also. A human
being should raise the concern over his brother's life - let it be
anywhere in the world - Kerala, Karnataka or Tamilnadu. Another
point for keepin in mind that both
the public and the politicians in Kerala have not yet shown any
enimity towards Tamilians. Such an open, soft and wast-minded
attitude cannot be expected from any
other state by Tamilians - let it be Andhra or Karnataka, or even
between any other states in India or between any countries in the
world. Exceptions can be US-
Israel, China-Pakistan, Saudi Arabia-Bahrain, etc. Still Keralites
see Tamilians as their own neighbouring brothers with respect for an
average Tamilian's Hardwork
and Ingelligent brain. They do not see any distinguision between a
Keralite or a Tamilian and in some cases show more relationship to
Tamilian than a Malayali, like
the appraisal of Tamilians and Malayalis by actor 'Innocent' in the
film 'Nadodikkaattu'. It was a real charity and Generosity from the
side of Kerala public and the
government that Tamilnadu was given this much of huge amount of water,
"almost free of cost" and most of the Keralites don't want to use the
word charity for their
kind heart. As more that 5 district uses Mullaperiyar water for
drinking, agricultural irrigation and sanitation, these facilities
will be cut off after the collapse
of the dam, including hue amount of electricity. The other water
supply from Kerala is from Shiruvani Dam for the whole Coimbatore City
and majority of the district
and Parambikkulam dam for other neighbouring districts. Drinking
water for both the second and third major cities in Tamilnadu :
Madurai and Coimbatore are provided
from Kerala with negliible cost. Still the same dirty politics is
played by some Tamil Politicians, especially when the issue of
constructing a road from Kerala to
Parambikkulam was raised by Kerala CM recently. Can the Tamil
politicians(some of them needless to say, dirty) and public can expect
such a generous mentality from
Karnataka on Kaveri issue? Even the water deserved by Tamilnadu will
not be granted by Karnataka government or the public to Tamilnadu.
Will Vaiko make an agitation
march to Karnataka in support of Tamilans in Kaveri water, which is
actually deserved by Tamilnadu ???? Actually Tamilians shold show
their gratitude towards the
poeple and the government of Kerala for bringing this much of huge
volume of water for supporting their life and agriculture, which was
not ready to be supplied by
others(states). Only for decoration, people(we Indians) will say
"Unity in Diversity" and we(Indians) are "ONE". But, when the real
matter comes, the real "Mind" can
be seen with Abosulute "DisUnity". Still can a Tamilan travel feely
in Karnataka when there is a serious Interstate problem? If
Mullaperiyar was in Karnakata, what
would have been the reactions from those Tamil politicians ??????
When a problem of security concern for Koodankulam came, the whole
state, including both Jayalalitha
and Karunanidhi joined hands each other and with Vaiko for getting
Koodankulam out of the state and disrupting its construction. Some
fake patriots(and of course,
some real also) will say that Nuclear enery is vital for the
development of India for producing Electricity. Where are those
patriots when the whole Tamilnadu voiced
and took action(including State Police) against the nuclear plant
??????. It is a real fact that India actually needs nuclear power to
make up its sky rocketing energey demands, as it cannot rely on
external oil or expensive/polluting coal/naphta powerplants. A
considerable number of Politicians are dirty, let it belong to Kerala,
Kanarnataka, Tamilnadu or the rest of India. Anyway, I wanted to
convery my message in such a huge essay only on Mullaperiyar and the
nasty politics playing around it.
MP dam is only 10to 12 dmc water danger for kerala, but 70dmc water iddikki dam safe for kerala ? i want to idukki dam also closed or demollised ,all news chanel and news paper and all party leader make follis kerala people.nobody thing tamilnadu kerala people . kerala people use 80%food and other things from tamil nadu, kerala All train and bus going to via kovai. so we want to thing everything .obey the supremcourt order thats good .we help formers and poor people,god safe us
As per mr.Ahmed union minister it is atrue lie that people are sleeping in Idukki .I recently went to idukki.secondly,kerala govt cannot be taken into confidence as they DID NOT HONOUR THE LEASE.further even went to court claiming that lease was given in british raj before independance but SC rejected it and kerala flouted SC order to increase the height after EXPERTS OPINION.They want come out of TN clutch in holding the control of MP dam.Thirdly,EXPERTS opinion was favouring TN so ,they have come backdoor with propaganda of Film Dam 999 and putting FEAR PSYCHOSIS into people of Kerala.Fourthly,why need a third party for maintenance of new dam.This choas by politicians will land up in Law and Order problem between two states.
Mullaperiyar Dam is an old one made with old technology.The complete benifit of the Dam is for Peoples in Tamilnadu.They are making very much money with this Dam.A failure to the Dam will affect the Tamil friends also.They will not get a litle drop of water,not agriculture only,but also for drinking.They cannot make electricity with this.Thamil friends has to understand this.The failure of the Dam(Prey for not to happen) will wipe out the 4000000 peoples and crores of proprty/assets of kerala.It will divide kerala into two.None of the constructions like road bridges,rail,factories can survive from flow of water.The disaster will be severe than a Tsunami in Japan.The water will reach Arabian sea within 3Hours.This is because,if the failure happens at 136feet water level,all the Dams in lower side of Mullaperiar,including Idukki Dam will fail.The solution is reduce the water temporarily to 120feet,make new Dam with old 152feet capacity and make new agreement.THIS IS NOT SIMPLE POLITICS
You must give more importance to this (Mullaperiyar) issue since
this is a question of about the life of 3 million people of Kerala.
Please cover the news from the affected areas directly and bring it to the notice of the Tamilnadu people also.
Once again request your Newspaper to support Kerala people and inform Tamilnadu people that the new Dam is not going to harm them, instead
they will have more water and facilites.
I don't know how Mr Radhakrishnan could make such a rubbish comment!
Mullapperiyar dam area witnessing earth-quake for many decades marking
different variations in scale.....and by studying Indian geography
and India's earth-quake prone areas you can make it clear.The treaty
is a colonial one and the democratic kerala gov is not much liable to
obey that. But we are aware the need of our tamil brothers and our C.M
made it clear that we are ready to give the same quantity of water
even after the construction of new dam and will honour the privileges
of Thamilnadu. surely the state is concerned about of 10-35 lakh
lives.. is it wrong?? Why jayalalitha opposing koodemkulam power
project which is a 20000 crore initiative and capable of creating
wealth...human life is more important than any other things, right? so
study the history and details of dam from any NATIONAL resource then
comment...Don't be sentimental....
please take immediate action to prevent any loss
The dam should be constructed by Kerala, since the life of peoples in 4 Districts in Kerala will be in great danger if the new dam is not constructed. Ban the wordings of Jayalalitha issued in Newspaper today.
Some readers are giving absurd comments, Tsunami in Madras happened and did any body witnessed anything like that before. It is wise to take decision before something happens. This is a matter of concern for Kerala people. It is not only Mullaperiyar which supplies water to TN but from other Kerala Dams also. But if the Dam breaks by natural cause there will no treaty to supply water to TN. The politicians in TN is hiding many facts. It is not because of them TN is getting water, but because of the Kerala Govt and peoples willingness. In any circumstances will TN allow Kerala to construct a Dam in TN for the use of Kerala. But still Kerala Govt is considering the issues of Tamil people who are also fellow human beings. Kerala know how sell water to TN and exploit their helplessness regarding scarcity of water. But as a civilized society we are not for regionalism or linguistic. Let us hope a New Dam is constructed for peace and well being of the people of India across state boarders.
No more 999 year lease. It is unheard and idiotic. No dam can exist for 999 years and such a lease between the Brtish rulers and the Raja has already lost its value. Kerala Government should not get into such traps.
Should Have a feasibile solution,Water for Agriculture in Tamilnadu,
Safety for Dam Neighbourhoods, TN Govt playing nasty politics with lakhs of lifes,threat to life is same in koodamkulam and mullaperiyar.
Nasar Vettikatil.Abudhabi.
It is not quite clear whether the Government of Kerala is concerned only about the safety of Mullaperiyar dam and those who live in Idukki and its neighbouring distrcts or whether it wants to come out of its obligations under the existing 999 year lease centering on the existing dam that belongs to Tamil Nadu. If Kerala's concern is only the safety of the dam and its people, it should make it very clear that it will continue to honour the existing lease and the new dam can even be built by Tamil Nadu or as a joint venture. It would be very useful if the Government of Kerala can clarify its stand on the lease as a very large number of farmers in Tamil Nadu depends on Mullaperiyar Dam.
I am a Tamilian. I am not talking in favour of Kerala. My opinion is why we should not jointly built a new bigger dam as a joint venture and reap the benefits equally among both the states?
Can the Kerala CM, Cabinet , and Assembly promise the absolute guarantee
of the present amount of water supply to Tamilnadu even after the
construction of a new Dam before the Supreme Court and the Parliament?
Is there any way to have this legal binding? Please do that then the
present crisis will be solved once and for all.
Thomas Kocherry (thomasksa@gmail.com
Mullaperiyar dam is very old, which is made in 1895 (116 years old now) and it will break any time and around 30 lacs people lives are in danger. The dam was constructed of lime and surki (a mixture of sugar and calcium oxide. We have to avoid another Morvi dam failure, which was the worst flood disaster in Indian history on August 11, 1979. Kerala govt wants to build their own new dam in order to save the people lives and it is not fair that Tamilnadu govt. wants to stop it at any cost. Tamilnadu people understand the gravity of the situation and politicians are playing game. Kerala has a big shortage of drinking water and Kerala govt has to make initiative to use their river water for their people and if they have surplus of water, let them give to Tamilnadu. Here Tamilnadu is taking all the water for that State use. The agreement had made during British govt. initiative in between then Madras govt. and Travancore king to give water to Madras State before independent.
Mullaperiyar dam is only 116 years old. There are several dams in
India which are much older than Mullaperiyar and they are surviving.
The present hysteria is to divert the attention of the people from the
economic crisis the State is facing now. Price of articles has gone
very steep and it is difficult for a common man to buy necessary
articles.Unemployment among the educated has reached the all time
high.Starvation death and poverty are widespread in rural areas. Every
month a farmer commits suicide in Wayanad. Piravam election is coming
soon and it is to divert the attention from the people about the
failure of the Govt., Mullaperiyar issue is being whipped up.
If the dam is safe, which it may be, then Tamil Nadu is failing to get across the
point to people other than sticking to its stand. TN politicians have to reach out to
Kerala people and assure them with examples on why they think it is safe. Kerala
politicians are doing a better job by repeatedly saying they want no change in the
supply of water to people of TN. They have also made it part of their banners and
posters. The reality is that both sides have a mutually-dependent existence.
Moreover, even culturally, both have so much to give and take. The problem has to
be resolved in the same spirit. If politicians are failing civil society and artists
should take the lead in forming support groups to help debate and decide the
issue.
No body trusts the government - whether it is Cental or state. Even one
government do not trust another - the govt of TN do not trust Govt of
Kerala......Where are we going????????????????? No vlaue for human
life?????????
The Prime Minister has to ignore the local politics and the beneficiaries of it and take the issue at hand as a matter of safety for a large number of Indians and act upon it urgently. Unless expert scientific investigations are conducted urgently and the stability of the dam in question is established, one can't relent in such a situation. That is what other decent democratic countries would do and India can't be politically reckless in a matter of public safety such as this! Time is the essence in these matters and wasting it on diatribe is not a responsible position!
The photo says the dam is in kerala tamil nadu border. This could be misleading to a person who reads about it for the first time. The dam sits within Kerala.
We want new dam to save lives; not meetings
There should not be any third party. We don't want to have any more problems like this for the coming generation. The stupidity of the Travencore Maharaja has created this situation. Not the stupidity of this government can repeat this for the future of Kerala. NO to third party in Kerala.
Why this hysteria over Muallaiperiyar? There has never been an
earthquake near Mullaperiyar for thousands of years. If it is a earth-
quake prone zone, what about the lives of lakhs and lakhs of people
living near the area? So it is a well planned, shrewdly calculated
strategy to construct the dam in a different place to deprive TN of
Muallaperiyar water. If Kerala wants a new dam, it can be constructed in
the exact site where the old dam now stands. It will also satisfy TN
demand to raise the water level
The issue needs to be resolved amicably and since it is a old dam we need to have a new one built as the lives of people are very important and the new dam should be jointly built by both the governments. Even after the new dam is constructed ensure the required water is supplied to TN hence ensuring no water issue to that state.
If Kerala is afraid of the safety of the existing dam, it is free to construct a new dam in the exact site where old dam stands. The bogey of earth-quake zone is to build a the new dam in a distant place where Tamilnadu will have no voice and control. Even during the British and Travancore Maharajah's time, this dam area has never experienced an earthquake.Lakhs and lakhs of people have been living in and around Mullaperiyar and they have never witnessed an earthquake. So the excuse 'eartquake' will not be valid.
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