Mullaperiyar dam People suffer

It is hartal time in Kerala. While Monday saw the entire state wearing a deserted look, people cutting across party lines observed another hartal on Tuesday in Idukki, Ernakulam, Kottayam and Alappuzha districts. They want a new dam in place of the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam in Idukki district on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. It is rare to see political parties in God’s Own Country coming together for a common cause.
Normal life was affected in the districts due to the 12-hour hartal.

Shops downed shutters, Kerala road transport corporation buses were not operating services and private buses were also off the roads in most of the places.

Kerala is in a grip of fear because of a series of tremors recorded in Idukki since January this year. Though all earthquakes were of magnitude 3.5 in the Richter scale, seismologists and scientists of the centre for earth science studies, Thiruvananthapuram, have sounded a note of caution.

“These earthquakes are a matter of concern. Though I do not perceive an imminent danger, it is advisable to think of building a new dam in place of Mullaperiyar,” John Mathai, senior scientist, told DNA.

Mathai’s research in Mullaperiyar has thrown out results which substantiates Kerala’s demand. “If a quake of magnitude 4 on the Richter scale occurs very close to the dam, it could lead to disaster. Please remember that dam is of 53.6 meters in height and 1,200 meters long,” he said.

The tussle between the two neighbouring states has made life difficult for Malayalees in Tamil Nadu. Politicians like Vaiko and Ramadoss, who lead Tamil chauvinist groups, forget everything while address public meetings. “Keralites are ungrateful, though we provide them with everything from rice to vegetables,” thundered Vaiko recently. All major political parties are unanimous in their opposition to he idea of a new dam because it means Tamil Nadu surrendering 8,000-odd acres under its control to Kerala.