Thiruvananthapuram, Wednesday 24 June 2009: The Kerala government today cautioned that the Mullaperiyar dam on Kerala-Tamil Nadu border was in a ‘highly critical state and a human casualty in the event of collapse of the 112-year-old structure will be unpredictable’.

Replying to questions in the assembly, Water Resources Minister N K Premachandran said the state had informed the Tamil Nadu government, which controls the dam located on the Kerala side, that the findings of an experts’ committee that visited it recently had been alarming.

‘As a precautionary measure, the state Disaster Management Authority has been asked to work out an action plan for the safety of the people living on the banks of the Periyar river in view of the threat posed by the unsafe dam,’ he said.

Kerala’s firm and persistent stand had been that a new dam had to be built across the river as no amount of repair could save the existing ‘lime and surki’ structure, as contended by Tamil Nadu, which shares water under an inter-state agreement.

TN is opposed to construction of a new dam and favours repair work on the existing structure.

The experts’ panel, headed by a former chief engineer, had reported that there had been serious erosion of lime-surki mortar with plaster peeling off, resulting in continuous seepage of water.

Earlier, a study by IIT Roorkie had found that the dam was located in seismic-prone spot. Another study by IIT Delhi had said the dam was hydrologically unsafe, he said. Kerala does not want to go ahead unilaterally with the construction of a new dam since the dispute between the two states concerning the dam was in the final stages in the Supreme Court, Premachandran said.

All the vital questions pertaining to the dam including the state’s position that only a new dam was a viable solution were being considered by the apex court, he said.

Instead of pressing ahead unilaterally on the basis of its rights over the dam located in its territory, Kerala had been keen to settle the issue amicably through a consensual approach based on the apex court’s decision.

At the same time, the state has already conducted the river survey at a three-km stretch as part of preparing the Detailed Project Report for the new dam. The consent of the Central Environment Ministry and the National Wildlife Board has been sought for taking up the survey through the forest stretches, he said.

The two neighbouring states had been at loggerheads for a long time over Mullaperiyar dam. Initially, the dispute centred round the issue of raising the dam’s water level. While Kerala wants to maintain the level at 136 feet considering the safety of the dam, Tamil Nadu has been insisting on raising it to 142 feet.