THIRUVANANTHAPURAM The State government has constituted a technical committee for preparing an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) for the downstream part of the Mullaperiyar dam in Idukki district.
Headed by the Chief Engineer (Inter-State Waters), Irrigation department, the six-member technical committee is expected to draft and submit the EAP within three months. The court-appointed supervisory committee on the Mullaperiyar dam, in its 15th meeting in June, had directed Kerala and Tamil Nadu to update the EAP for the dam.
Earlier this month, the Water Resources department issued orders creating the technical committee for preparing the EAP ''downstream of the Mullaperiyar dam (Kerala part) in line with the provisions of the Dam Safety Act, 2021 and guidelines issued by the Central Water Commission for developing EAP for dams.''
The technical panel has been created on the basis of a request placed by the Chief Engineer (Inter-State Waters), Irrigation department, in September for drafting the EAP.
The committee is required to submit the EAP within three months.
The panel has as its members the Chief Engineer, Irrigation Design & Research Board (IDRB), who is also co-chair; the Chief Engineer, Civil - Dam Safety and Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project, Kerala State Electricity Board; the Member Secretary of the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority; the Superintending Engineer, Minor Irrigation Central Circle, Ernakulam, (convener of the panel); and the Executive Engineer, Minor Irrigation Division, Idukki.
