TN advisor disputes Chandy’s remark

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Did Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy try to mislead the Tamil Nadu media at his Thiruva-
nanthapuram interaction on Saturday? The testimony of Tamil Nadu government’s water resources advisor A. Mohanakrishnan indicates so.

During his long interaction with editors from Chennai this morning, Mr Chandy said the idea of constructing a new dam in Mullaiperiyar was not new; nor was it entirely Kerala-sponsored.

Tamil Nadu too had agreed to the new dam way back in 1979 when a team of engineers led
by Mr Mohanakrishnan had held discussions on a new dam at Mullaiperiyar and even selected an appropriate site. Unfortunately, Kerala did not push for getting the new dam built.

Refuting Mr Chandy’s claim, Mr Mohanakrishnan said the teams of engineers from Tamil Nadu and Kerala had met in 1979 under the chairmanship of Mr K.C. Thomas, the then chief of the Central Water Commission to discuss the dam issue.

The CWC then had suggested two options—strengthening the existing dam or building a new one. Accordingly, the two teams visited the area and identified a site for the new dam, but Mr Thomas concluded that the existing dam was strong and would last long if some strengthening work could be done.

“The idea for new dam was dropped then and there”, Mr Mohanakrishnan told Deccan Chronicle, adding he was “just a member of the Tamil Nadu team and was not its leader”.

He also said a series of strengthening works were carried out in the Mullaiperiyar dam based on the CWC recommendations, under the supervision of Kerala experts.