Alternative paths to Mullaperiyar dam controversy
Prof. T.|Shivaji Rao,
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/423/11/11_chapter2.pdf[fisheries report on lake]
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/423/11/11_chapter2.pdf[fisheries report on lake]
Director,center for Environmental studies,
Gitam university , Visakhapatnam.
The Director said that the
Mullaperiyar dam did not meet modern safety norms and was under-designed for
hydrological safety. If the Mullaperiyar dam collapsed, it will cause not only
loss of lives of lakhs of people but also an economic disaster affecting the
two States and the nation. Lakhs of acres of agriculture land in Tamil Nadu
would become barren for want of water.
In a press statement, Mr, Rao said
that the Mullaperiyar dam did not fulfil three goals of public safety, “The
first goal is based on the geological foundations, seismic potential and
seismicity of the area. The second goal pertains to structural safety of the
dam based on maximum credible earthquake including hydrological safety and spillway
design flood. The third safety goal for the dam pertains to the environmental
safety that comprises on risk analysis, dam break analysis, emergency response,
disaster management including emergency evacuation plans and cost benefit
analysis. In the case of the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam, none of these
safety criteria was considered.”
He said that the dam could not
withstand the stresses resulting from peak ground accelerations due to a 6.5
magnitude earthquake at a shallow focal depth in close proximity of the dam.
Even a strong Koyna dam cracked in some parts in 1969 due to an earthquake of
6.5 magnitude and caused serious damage.
The Mullaperiyar dam was designed
for historical maximum flood is 86 lakh cubic feet per second (cusecs) and the
design flood for spillway discharge is 1.22 lakh cusecs. However, the extreme
flood magnitude in terms of safety works out to 2.44 lakh cusecs based criteria
published by the International Commission on Large Dams.
“Since Mullaperiyar dam is thus
under-designed both from seismological and hydrological safety aspects this dam
is inevitably bound to collapse irrespective of the pronouncements of the
engineering experts who could not stop the collapse of more than 40 dam bursts
in India including the masonry dams of Tigra in Madhya Pradesh, Kundali in
Maharashtra, Chickhole in Karnataka and Kadhakwasla in Maharahstra.”
He said that Tamil Nadu was failing
to read the writing on the wall for want of dam safety studies and was
indirectly promoting man-made catastrophe like the Bhopal disaster in spite of
the forewarnings.
“Since Mullaperiyar dam is a
prescription for disaster it must be prevented by the whole nation by exerting
pressure on the Prime Minister to resolve the problem by building a new dam
even without dismantling the existing dam by forming a corporation on the lines
of the one used for building Tehri and Sardar Sarovar Project.”
Jayalalitha must
realise that just as the recent abnormal range in chennai andTamilnadu have
flooded all the streets in Chennai and drowned most ofthe houses due to
abnmormal Mullaperiyar dam the old dammay burst and flash floods may kill 35
lakhs of people in Kerala state and simentously the periyar dam will be
disabled to supply releave order to Tamilnadu with result that lakhs of Farmers
in south Tamilnadu may commit suicides . Hence she must take initiative to
solve Mulla periyar dam cotraversy by requesting the prime minister to
construct 4 or 5 small dams all along the length of the Mulla periyar river up
to the neighbourhood of the existing old Mulla periyar dam . In such a case the
flood water touching Mulla periyar dam can be stored at different places
upstream and the last block of water storage touching the existing dam will be
limited to 5 to 10 T.M.C.only for ensuring the F.R.L. at mulla periyar dam to
increase the water supply to Tamilnadu while simentously providing safety to
the lives of 30 lakhs people of Kerala . Hence the demand of Kerala state for a
new dam can be met as objective of a new dam demanded by Kerala can be met by
this new proposal of multiple smaller dams
the catchment of MKulla periyar dam . Let jayalalitha give the option
for asn alternative dam demanded by Kerala to be built on the upstream of
Idukki dam far below the existing Mulla periyar dam.
