A week ago I tried to bring Idukki dam into the Mullaperiyar debate because it appeared to be hiding something the Kerala government didn't want to disclose. This morning Sam Rajappa (political analyst who was with The Statesman earlier) reiterates his position on Mullaperiyar in a column in 'The New Indian Express'. Earlier in December last year Sam posted an article in The Statesman about the same subject. Here are some of his assertions.
The Idukki dam was not getting filled up fully after completion of it's construction because of not so copious rain in it's catchment areas and the KSEB (Kerala State Electricity Board) engineers hit upon an idea of reducing the storage level of Mullaperiyar (which is upstream) to 136ft to bring in enough water overflowing from there. It took 4 years after completion for all 6 power generators in Moolamattom power house (situated downstream of the Idukki dam) to generate power.
Given Kerala's energy situation, the fear is understandable. There is a 30 minute load shedding in summer in Ernakulam district (there could be in others, but I can't say for sure) and if there i no enough storage in Idukki dam which generates the bulk of Kerala's power for the Central region then the situation could worsen. If this assertion is entirely true then full marks to the Nostradamus' in Kerala for the successful campaign in instilling fear in the minds of people.
Previously I stated the following here.
# Despite copious rains the Idukki reservoir was filled only to the extent of 57.365 tmc though it's full storage was 70.500 tmc. The Idukki dam which is situated further downstream ahead of the Mullaperiyar dam can take in excess of 11 tmc water should the worst happen.And now Sam's article reiterates that all the water from Mullaperiyar will add to about 1ft more water in the Idukki dam. He also makes another interesting observation. After leaving the Mullaperiyar dam the rivers meanders through thick hilly sections for 32 kms and for the remaining 16 kms there are pockets of human inhabitation. The article alleges that these hamlets will not be submerged but might get inundated.
The life of a dam has been a key question and if one was to view it from the Kerala government's perspective then the Stanley reservoir (Mettur), Bhakra Nangal dam, Nagarjuna Sagar dam and a couple of other dams are already running way past their life and could be an 'imminent' danger. This can be anything but true. A dam's life after construction entirely depends on how it's monitored and maintained from there on. Look at the Grand Anaicut (Kallanai) in Trichy, built by the Chola's, it's been in active service for about 1000 years.
All concerns raised by the Govt of Kerala could be valid. That's when you bring Idukki into the perspective. Mullaperiyar is surely not Kerala's only concern, the truth lies in Idukki which nobody is talking about.
