The Mullaperiyar Paranoia

The people of Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been living in an ordeal for the last two or three months. Is It the result of a hype created by the politicians and the media? Or is there any solid foundation for the fear that has gripped the people?

 It seems the immediate cause has been the occurrence, and that too at closer intervals, of minor tremors less than four in the Ritcher Scale, in the Idukki district. Well, this area has been prone to seismic activity for a long time now but there has not been any quake above 4 in the Ritcher scale and seismologists do not predict any strong  earth quake in the vicinity of the dam.  If a strong quake does happen, the Idukki Arch Dam and the other dams of the district would collapse and the damage would  be much more severe than if  the Mulleperiyar one crumbles. Earthquakes are not in the hands of the politicians or rulers but are brought about by the tectonic movement of the plates of earth’s surface and sub-surface dynamics, and hence undue fear about what will happen when the dam bursts is simply a figment of imagination. Let us hope nothing happens  and the dam will stand.   Man has been subjected to natural calamities from time immemorial. Even if the dam fails, only 8tmcft of water will flow down and this can be easily contained by the Idukki Arch Dam which has a capacity of 73tmcft. It is generally less than half full and in the peak season only 75% full. Hence the Mulleperiyar water does not pose any threat on the Idukki dam and the velocity of flow would have come down to safe limits when it reaches the Idukki dam reservoir.  There is no engineering evidence to say that Idukki dam cannot contain the sudden inflow in case of a burst and this was declared by the Kerala Advocate General in the High Court.  But during the peak of the paranoia, there were fears raised about the safety of the people of even the Ernakulam district and that of Kochi itself! There is no limit for human imagination if it is under the grip of paranoia!

To avoid any collapse of the Mulleperiyar dam and to prevent casualties of people downstream up to the Idukki Arch dam, it has be fortified quite thoroughly as being carried out by the Tamil Nadu Government over a few decades since 1986. There are 3 phases of strengthening--emergency, medium and long-term-The first two have been completed successfully.  According to the engineers of the Central Water Commission appointed by the Supreme Court the dam is safe and strong and the level of water could be raised to 142 feet.  In fact Kerala has not allowed the strengthening process to go uninterrupted and does not allow now the same to be carried out to the baby dam and to build the parapet wall on the main dam which is required for the long –term -strengthening measures. If we are really concerned about the safety of the dam and the people around, we should see that the same goes on in a war while we try to build a new dam. It will take more than 5 years; it takes years to get even  the clearances from the environment and other concerned central ministries and agencies. By not allowing the strengthening work, we are making the danger higher if a problem arises due to a quake or any other reason.
Can we say the apex court of the land is not concerned with the welfare and the safety of the people living nearby? Judgements are passed after carefully studying expert opinions.  It irrigates 8000 acres of land in the rain shadow districts of Tamil Nadu -and without the water the people will lose their livelihood, go hungry and die. Is it not a humanitarian issue too like the threat to our people?  

The media and the politicians can make a hype out of any issue and bring it to a crescendo where reason is blinded by emotion and public sentiments. Of what good has the commotion made so far been? A lot of property has been vandalized, thousands have lost their livelihood and few innocent lives lost or maimed apart from the difficulties caused in the movement of people, transportation of essential goods, and inter state visits. The price of essential commodities has been skyrocketing in Kerala and people are put to unnecessary hardships. Who will compensate for all these? Let the concerned government work out a reasonable solution  without emotionalizing the issue.