Kerala shows green light, 500 cement bags sent to dam site

The task of getting the machinery ready and moving labourers to the dam site was completed by Saturday evening. A view of the Mullaperiyar dam.

Hours after receiving a communication from the Kerala government permitting the transport of cement, Tamil Nadu Public Works Department officials rushed 500 bags of cement to the Mullaperiyar dam site on Saturday morning.

“A total of 500 bags, in three vehicles, reached the dam site around 7.30 a.m.,” a PWD official said.

The development followed a meeting convened by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa with Chief Secretary Debendranath Sarangi and Director General of Police K. Ramanujam in Chennai on Friday, in which she asked them to speak to their Kerala counterparts for facilitating the work to fill the holes on the dam.

The officials spoke to the Kerala Chief Secretary and the DGP over phone, a release issued by the government said.

“With fresh stock of cement available, the ground work of getting ready with the machinery and moving the labourers to the dam site was over by evening. The work can start by Sunday morning,” the PWD official said.

“We expect the work to be completed in three days. If required, more cement bags will be moved from Theni district.”

The work was suspended on Thursday afternoon after the PWD ran out of cement stock. Two holes, out of the total six drilled, needed to be closed.

The Kerala Forest Department denied permission to transport fresh stock of cement contending that Tamil Nadu was trying to strengthen the dam using pressure grouting technology.