Dam-break analysis on Mullaperiyar completed: Minister

Tuesday, March 6, 2012: Going ahead with its crisis management programme for the Mullaperiyar dam, the Kerala government today said it has completed the ‘dam-break analysis’ at the 116-year-old reservoir over which it is locked in dispute with Tamil Nadu.
Giving details of the disaster management plan, Water Resources Minister P J Joseph told the Assembly as a first phase, government had also completed the study of ‘Dam-Break Flood situation’ from Mullaperiyar reservoir to the downstream Idukki dam. The studies were conducted by IIT-Roorkee.
Joseph was replying to a calling attention motion of E S Bijimol (CPI), who wanted government to take steps to ensure the safety of the residents living in the area between the two dams.
As per the analysis report, the water level down the Mullaperiayar dam area would rise by 40.30 m and in Idukki dam, which is about 36 km from Mullaperiyar, the level would go up to 20.85 m, if anything adverse happened to the over century-old reservoir.