Tamil Nadu, Kerala draw battlelines over dam
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Never in its 116-year-old history had Pennycuick and his Mullaiperiyar dam emerged as heroes in Tamil Nadu.
The dam, an engineering marvel, built by the British architect in 1895, brought together all political forces in the state only after the people of Cumbum valley flooded the streets swearing to save the dam.
Overwhelming protests resulted in a rare show of unity — the TN Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution on December 15, asking Kerala to repeal the amendments made to the Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation Act, 2006, to restore the water level to an interim 142 feet, as directed by the Supreme Court.
It resolved to urge the Centre to provide Central security for the dam site. However, it came only after the Kerala government had a resolution adopted in its Assembly on December 9 to construct a new dam across Mullaiperiyar and in the intervening time, scale down the level to 120 feet.
The entire episode started with the scheduled release of Kerala-born Sohan Roy's Dam 999 that, political parties felt, attempted to instill fear by showing a dam burst.
The film was banned in TN. It was after this that the documentary, 'Mullaiperiyar dam — The real story', released by PWD engineers' association a year back, grew popular. It percolated to the masses, especially in the south, and they were made to understand the salient features of the dam.
As emotions started running high, it was a coincidence that the dam's storage hit its permissible level, helping Kerala politicians whip up panic.
But the trigger for the explosion of emotions was the incidents wherein a few Kerala Congressmen attempted to damage the dam's shutters at Thekkady and some Kerala BJP youth, armed with spades and crowbars, gained entry into the reserve forest in a bid to break the baby dam. It was closely followed by the attack on Tamil Sabarimala pilgrims in Kerala.
Then, there was an uprising in spooked Cumbum valley. Police exercised maximum restraint and let the people pour out their emotions. There were pan-Tamil Nadu protests and violence reported in both states.
The three routes to Kerala from Theni district remain sealed for the last 20 days. While both states look to the SC verdict, the people on either side of the border seem to have realised that they are inter-dependent. And, there is hope that traffic would resume in the New Year.
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