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Saturday, 25 July 2009

Safety for Kerala, water for Tamil Nadu; Kerala wants new Mullaperiyar dam

Kerala has reiterated its stand for building a new dam in Mullaperiyar. It sees that only a new dam is a solution to the concern raised on the safety of the 113-year-old dam across Mullaperiyar River, which has become a contentious issue between Kerala and its neighbouring state Tamil Nadu.

The Kerala assembly has adopted a resolution demanding the Union Government to take the initiative in building a new dam across Mullaperiyar. The resolution was passed unanimously in the assembly, with both the treasury and the opposition benches raising the same concern over the safety of the people.

Moving the resolution, Kerala Water Resources Minister N K Premachandran had said the State's demand for a new dam in Mullaperiyar was not new. He referred to the agreement of 1979 when the two states had agreed for building a new dam in Mullaperiyar.

A new dam means ''safety for Kerala and water for Tamil Nadu, the Minister had told in the assembly.

Various studies conducted on the safety of Mulaperiyar dam, which is more than 100 years old, has pointed out the dam was situated in a seismic-prone spot and was
hydrologically unsafe. Once it bursts, three districts will be washed out and about 40 lakh people will be affected.

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