Jayalalithaa asks Manmohan Singh to safeguard dam

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Expressing serious concern over the alleged incidents of mob violence in Kerala threatening the safety of the Mullaiperiyar Dam, Tamil Nadu chief minister Ms Jayalalithaa on Sunday urged the Prime Minister to immediately deploy the central industrial security force (CISF) to protect the 116-year-old dam from 'man-made catastrophic consequences'.

In a letter to the PM, she said a mob of 200 people had damaged the gate of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board facility at the dam on Saturday and today (Sunday), some lumpen elements marched towards the dam with a JCB and some implements with the intention of letting out water and damaging the dam.

“As I have pointed out earlier, the orchestrated campaign of fear mongering carried on by the Kerala government has led to this situation wherein the very security and safety of the dam is being deliberately threatened”, Ms Jayalalithaa told the PM in her letter.

Rubbishing the Kerala claim that the dam could collapse in view of its age and also some recent tremors in the region, she said dams much older were quite healthy, such as the Kallanai built by Karikala Cholan over 1900 years ago.

“People in the delta area of Tamil Nadu are not living in any fear of (Kallanai) dam bursting or collapsing”, she said. “Similarly, the Andhra Pradesh irrigation department maintains the Godavari anicut and Krishna barrage, which date between 1845 and 1855”.

The chief minister also pointed out that the materials Major Pennycuick had used to build the Mullaiperiyar Dam are the same that Karikala Cholan used for Kallanai — stone and surki. Also, the Kerala advocate general had gone on record before the Kerala high court that even in the event of any eventuality, the Idukki reservoir, the Kulamavu and Cheruthoni dams would take the waters.

Meanwhile, former chief minsiter M. Karunanidhi petitioned Justice Anand, chairman of empowered committee for Mullaiperiyar dam, to direct Kerala to allow water level to be raised to 142 feet.