Wednesday, September 28, 2011: Kerala will soon submit a Detailed
Project Report (DPR) to the Supreme Court appointed Empowered Committee
on its proposal to build a new dam at Mullaperiyar to replace the
existing 115-year-old structure over which it is locked in a row with
Tamil Nadu.
The construction of the new dam would depend on the final decision of
the Supreme Court since the long-pending dispute between Kerala and
Tamil Nadu was before the apex court, Water Resources Minister P J
Joseph told the Assembly.
While Kerala has been pressing for construction of a new dam holding
that the existing structure was extremely weak and posed a serious
threat to millions living in the downstream areas in the state, Tamil
Nadu is opposed to it.
The Empowered Committee, headed by former Chief Justice of India,
Justice A S Anand, was constituted in 2010 to look into various aspects
of the issue including safety of the present dam, feasibility of raising
the reservoir’s water level above 136 ft as demanded by Tamil Nadu and
Kerala’s demand for a new dam.
Joseph said the construction of a new dam was estimated to cost Rs
663 crore and a token provision of Rs 5 crore had been made in the
state’s budget for 2011-12. A special purpose vehicle company called
Periyar Development Kerala Ltd was proposed to be formed for taking up
the work, he said.
The feasibility report on the new dam had already been submitted to
the Empowered Committee, which has on it members nominated by the two
states, but its response had not been received so far, he said.
The environmental impact study on the project, entrusted to the
Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), was yet to be completed. When a
new dam was constructed, the existing one would be dismantled at an
appropriate time based on a detailed technical study, Joseph said.
However, certain suggestions on this, such as whether the old one
should be fully or partially dismantled, had been included in the DPR.
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