Mullaperiyar….!!!
On the east side of Kerala is the state of Tamil Nadu, erstwhile madras presidency, a region with a totally different culture and an equally different landscape.
The areas under the madras presidency such as Theni, Madurai District, Sivaganga District and Ramanathapuram (towards the immediate east of periyar) are highly arid and rain shadow regions. These areas have struggled for adequate water and are prone to draughts and localized famines.
The then maharaja of Travancore, Visakham Thirunal Rama Varma was a compassionate man, but his kindness was exploited by the British and a devious and an unfair contract was made.
A contract never heard of, a contract that was one-sided, a contract devoid of common justice.
As per the contract it said.
1. The natural flow direction of river periyar would be diverted (from west to east)
2. A dam will be constructed on the land of Travancore (Kerala).
3. The agreement gave 8000 acres of land for the reservoir and another 100 acres to construct the dam.
4. But will have to be leased to Tamil Nadu for 999 years.
5. Tamil Nadu (State Secretary of Madras State) to have total control and owner ship of the dam.
6. Tax of Rs.5/acre to be paid to Kerala by TN.
7. The lease provided the British the rights over "all the waters" of the Mullaperiyar and its catchment basin, for an annual rent of Rs.40,000.
BUT what is beyond comprehension is the post-independence stand of the Tamil on the mullaperiyar.
3. Idukki and the area around the dam is a seismically active zone.
4. An earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale occurred on June 7, 1988 near the dam and that caused heavy leakages and seepages in the dam.
5. Ever since, the dam is a potential time bomb.
7. The damn will collapse the moment there is a tremor over 5 on ritcher scale.
9. Centre for Earth Science Studies has ruled it as unsafe and dangerous.
10. Even today Tamil Nadu is adamantly insisting to raise the water storage in the dam citing that there has been “immense crop losses to Tamil Nadu”. (never heard of a more selfish claim)
11. Court ordered Tamil nadu is 2006 to strengthen the dam and then think of increasing the height of the dam.
12. Nothing has been done towards ensuring safety of the dam, yet Tamil Nadu pesters with their demand to raise the dam height.
The below paragraph from an article from Frontline, 2000 edition summarizes the situation
Nature had wished that periyar river flows westwards, and on its way, provides the state of Kerala with abundance of rich flora and fauna, before submitting it into the Arabian seas.
On the east side of Kerala is the state of Tamil Nadu, erstwhile madras presidency, a region with a totally different culture and an equally different landscape.
The areas under the madras presidency such as Theni, Madurai District, Sivaganga District and Ramanathapuram (towards the immediate east of periyar) are highly arid and rain shadow regions. These areas have struggled for adequate water and are prone to draughts and localized famines.
During the pre-independence period, Madras presidency was one of the first provinces to have aligned with and supported the British. British, hence, wanted to repay in kind and that was how the idea of altering nature so as to please the madras presidency came about. Since, 1770s through later part of 1800s British set sight on diverting the natural course of river periyar – make it to circumvet a little towards Tamil Nadu (momentarily making it to flow east) And in course provide water for the irrigation and life in the arid areas of Tamil Nadu by constructing a dam.
The then maharaja of Travancore, Visakham Thirunal Rama Varma was a compassionate man, but his kindness was exploited by the British and a devious and an unfair contract was made.
1. The natural flow direction of river periyar would be diverted (from west to east)
2. A dam will be constructed on the land of Travancore (Kerala).
3. The agreement gave 8000 acres of land for the reservoir and another 100 acres to construct the dam.
4. But will have to be leased to Tamil Nadu for 999 years.
6. Tax of Rs.5/acre to be paid to Kerala by TN.
7. The lease provided the British the rights over "all the waters" of the Mullaperiyar and its catchment basin, for an annual rent of Rs.40,000.
Now no one has to possess an IQ of over 160 to realize that this agreement was unilaterally beneficial to only Tamil Nadu. The principles of social justice were buried.
If Sachin Tendulkar possesses natural talent of batting it doesn’t mean he has to part away his right hand so as to enable a lesser gifted player be able to play as well as Sachin. The dam agreement is as illogical as the illustration provided above. It is a universal truth that some people, places, events are more gifted/blessed than others. That’s it.
However, we can understand all this considering that Britishers are known for divide and rule policies and how they leech out from friends.
BUT what is beyond comprehension is the post-independence stand of the Tamil on the mullaperiyar.
By default all such agreements should have been nullified and deemed void/invalid from the moment India achieved independence and the Dam should have been brought down. But, again politics and betrayal played its part well and Tamil made sure that the mullaperiyar would maintain status quo as the whole issue was made to hang forever in the dark judicial by-lanes of Supreme Court.
Initially the water was used only for the irrigation and providing life for the people from the lands less favored by Gods. But, subsequently a hydro electric power plant was built and electricity generated from the diverted waters.
But problem is not even this. The true problem is
1. The dam is 116 years old.
2. The dam was constructed using stone ruble masonry with lime mortar grouting construction techniques that have now become archaic (out-dated, no more used).
3. Idukki and the area around the dam is a seismically active zone.
4. An earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale occurred on June 7, 1988 near the dam and that caused heavy leakages and seepages in the dam.
5. Ever since, the dam is a potential time bomb.
6. 23 tremors ranging from 2.4 - 3.8 on ritcher scale were recorded just in the year of 2011 in Idukki district.
7. The damn will collapse the moment there is a tremor over 5 on ritcher scale.
8. 4 million people in Idukki, Ernakulum, Kottayam, Alappuzha and Thrissur districts will lose their lives in the event of dam collapse.
9. Centre for Earth Science Studies has ruled it as unsafe and dangerous.
10. Even today Tamil Nadu is adamantly insisting to raise the water storage in the dam citing that there has been “immense crop losses to Tamil Nadu”. (never heard of a more selfish claim)
11. Court ordered Tamil nadu is 2006 to strengthen the dam and then think of increasing the height of the dam.
12. Nothing has been done towards ensuring safety of the dam, yet Tamil Nadu pesters with their demand to raise the dam height.
13. Tamil Nadu has increased the usage of resource from the dam by a whopping 20% in the last decade.
14. The levied lease and tax agreement still remains nominal and it is as good as free.
The below paragraph from an article from Frontline, 2000 edition summarizes the situation
"For every argument raised by Tamil Nadu in support of its claims, there is counter-argument in Kerala that appears equally plausible. Yet, each time the controversy gets embroiled in extraneous issues, two things stand out: One is Kerala's refusal to acknowledge the genuine need of the farmers in the otherwise drought-prone regions of Tamil Nadu for the waters of the Mullaperiyar; the other is Tamil Nadu's refusal to see that it cannot rely on or continue to expect more and more from the resources of another State to satisfy its own requirements to the detriment of the other State. A solution perhaps lies in acknowledging the two truths, but neither government can afford the political repercussions of such a confession"
What Tamil Nadu must realize is that the water you get from periyar is actually resource of another state. To satisfy people of your region, you are not only snatching away the resource from its rightful owner, but also jeopardizing the very existence of a land on whose mercy you have been existing all these years.
It is because of the pain we have at the thought of the beautiful and the god gifted land, our mother land Kerala getting destroyed that we keralites are forced to use harsh words against the Tamils.
It is a water time bomb out there! Even YOU are in the line of fire. Disasters of this kind have happened in past (Banqiao Dam, 1975, 2lakh people were killed and 2crore people lost everything they ever had. Morvi dam, Gujarat 1979 20,000 people killed.) And that should be our lessons. We must not just sit around and hope for the best.
Everywhere, always, isn’t precaution better than cure?
Lord Ayyappa presides over these lands and he has always been the guiding and saving strength of the land. It will be no different even this time round.
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