Thursday, July 28, 2011: The occurrence of an earthquake of magnitude 3.8 on the Richter scale in various parts of Idukki district has raised fresh concerns about the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam. Three small cracks have been noticed today in the Mullaperiyar dam.Mullaperiyar Samara Samiti president CP Roy had said that in the wake of the earthquake the safety of the dam and the lives of the people living downstream have to be taken seriously.
“In 1979, the Central Water Commission had stated that the dam was not safe. Later, the Tamil Nadu Government submitted a report to the Supreme Court that piling work had been done to make the dam safe. Following this, the Supreme Court gave approval to increase the water level to 156 ft, in 2006,” Roy said.
“The existing case in the Supreme Court is on the basis of the Mullaperiyar Dam Authority’s report which was filed by Tamil Nadu. But now the case has reached this stage because the Supreme Court itself has taken the safety concerns of the dam seriously,” he added.
He said that in the wake of the recent tremors, the government should appeal to the court to speed up the case proceedings as the dam is located in a district which is prone to earthquake.
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