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Mullaperiyar water level to be kept at 136 feet

Staff Reporter

Kerala Water Resources Minister, Achuthanandan visit site

KOTTAYAM: The Kerala Water Resources Minister, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, has said that the State Government was committed to keeping the water level at the Mullaperiyar reservoir at 136 feet.

Mr. Radhakrishnan, who in an unprecedented move visited the dam site along with Leader of the Opposition V. S. Achuthanandan on Thursday, refused to elaborate on his statement since the Assembly is in session. He, however, clarified that the Government had clear ideas about how to tackle the extraordinary situation arising out of the increase in water level at the century-old structure across the Periyar.

The Minister said he would announce the Government's stand on the situation in the Assembly after consultation with Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and the Leader of the Opposition.

Addressing a joint press conference with Mr. Achuthanandan at Kumily, Mr. Radhakrishnan underscored the need to keeping parochial interests out of the controversy. Mullaperiyar was an issue that concerned the State and its people as a whole. Replying to a question, the Minister said the Kerala Government had many times in the past asked the Tamil Nadu Government to clean up the mouth of the spillway which was filled with the debris of the 1993 granite quarrying, silt and weed. He along with the Chief Minister and the then Industries Minister, P. K. Kunhalikutty, had taken up the issue with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa a few months ago. She had assured them of taking action. However, the debris was still there. This was one of the core reasons for the rise in water level in the reservoir.

"It is the duty of the Tamil Nadu Government to remove the debris, but the Kerala Government has the duty to ensure the safety of its citizens," he said.

He said most of the dams had, in addition to signs to mark the maximum water level, `warning points' to signal any alarming increase in water level so that necessary actions could be initiated to avoid calamities.

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