The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Study reiterates need for new dam, says Minister

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Tuesday, Jul 08, 2008
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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Study reiterates need for new dam, says Minister

Special Correspondent

State to place study before the Supreme Court

Roorkee IIT conducting another study
‘Government is moving matters systematically’

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The report on a study on probable maximum flood conditions at Mullaperiyar, released by the Delhi IIT recently, doubly reiterates the need for replacing the 108-year-old dam located there, according to Minister for Water Resources N.K. Premachandran.

Replying to submissions from E.S. Bijimol and K. Babu in the Assembly on Monday, the Minister said the State had also requested the Roorkee IIT to conduct a study on ‘the structural stability of Mullaperiyar dam’ in the event of probable earth tremors. The report on this study was waited.

Mr. Premachandran said the State would place both these reports before the Supreme Court in the ongoing case with Tamil Nadu.

The Delhi IIT, in its study, reported that the catchments of the Mullaperiyar dam could receive up to 65.43 cm of rainfall during a two-day-period of maximum precipitation. In the event of such heavy rainfall, 13.86 tmcft of water would reach the reservoir within 70 hours.

The study said the water level in the reservoir could then shoot up to 158.67 feet (much beyond the present permitted level of 136 feet), even if all the 13 shutters of the dam were kept wide open.

In Indian conditions, it is an accepted principle to allow a 10 per cent margin of default for the spillway capacity because of possible mechanical failure or human failure. When this is also taken into consideration, the reservoir level can go up to 160.22 feet under maximum flood conditions, Mr. Premachandran said, quoting the findings of the study.

The Minister assured the House that the State government was systematically moving matters to convince the Supreme Court about the big dangers involved in retaining the weak old dam.

The government has also given administrative sanction for spending Rs.1.31 crore on conducting engineering investigations for building a new dam at Mullaperiyar, the Minister said.

The State is awaiting the permission of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests to conduct the engineering investigations and other related matters since the Mullaperiyar area is situated in Periyar Tiger Reserve, he said.

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