Kerala is trying to survive the worst flood it has seen in a long time and reducing the water level in Mullpereiyar would have helped them go a long way in helping the state at this point. But Tamilnadu has held firm that it will not reduce the water level. The neighbour state of Kerala is guilty of playing politics at a time where it should not be and to show the world that the dam is strong at 142 feet. Kerala C.M Pinarayi Vijayan has sent a letter to Tamil Nadu C.M Palaniswamy to reduce the water level but the response has come that the dam is strong even at 142 feet and there is no need to reduce the water level.
“I would like to state that Mullaperiyar dam is safe in all respects viz., hydrologically, seismically and structurally as per the Supreme Court order dated 7.4.2014. During the past, the dam was inspected by many experts on several occasions who had also found that the dam was safe in all aspects,” he said in his letter.
“As you are aware, the SC-appointed supervisory committee inspects the dam periodically and in the last inspection carried out on 4.8.2018, the committee has found that the dam is safe to store water up to 142 ft. Therefore, there is no threat to the safety of the dam and water is being stored at the permitted level of 142 ft as per the orders of the Supreme Court,” he wrote.
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In his letter, Palaniswamy also said, “the government of Tamil Nadu has been transferring water for Mullaperiyar dam to Vaigai Basin to the maximum extent possible through the tunnel. When the inflows started to increase in the dam, there has been continuous coordination between engineers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and the respective District Collectors. The Water Resources Department of Tamil Nadu is maintaining the releases through the spillways, so as to not exceed the permitted water storage level at 142 feet, duly giving periodic warnings to all concerned in Kerala.”
However the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister also added, “I would also like to point out that Kerala is not permitting TN officials to gauge the rainfall in the catchment areas, and officials are therefore compelled to assess the inflow only based on the actual rate of raise in water level in the dam. I would request you to inform your officials to share the rainfall data on the catchment of Mullaperiyar dam with TN officials on a real time basis.”
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