Tremors evoke fresh fears on Mullaperiyar safety

KOCHI:  The occurrence of an earthquake of magnitude 3.8 on the Richter scale in various parts of Idukki district has raised fresh concerns about the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam. Mullaperiyar Samara Samiti president C P Roy said that in the wake of the earthquake the safety of the dam and the lives of the people living downstream have to be taken seriously. “In 1979, the Central Water Commission had stated that the dam was not safe. Later, the Tamil Nadu Government submitted a report to the Supreme Court that piling work had been done to make the dam safe. Following this, the Supreme Court gave approval to increase the water level to 156 ft, in 2006,” Roy said. “The existing case in the Supreme Court is on the basis of the Mullaperiyar Dam Authority’s report which was filed by Tamil Nadu. But now the case has reached this stage because the Supreme Court itself has taken the safety concerns of the dam seriously,” he added.He said that in the wake of the recent tremors, the government should appeal to the court to speed up the case proceedings as the dam is located in a district which is prone to earthquake.“There have been reports that the Mullaperiyar dam cannot withstand a tremor of 5.1 on the Richter scale and owing to the geographical peculiarities of Idukki district, earthquakes are a regular feature here. The Mullaperiyar Samara Samiti has demanded that a new dam should be constructed downstream of the existing dam, which is the only solution to the issue. How can one say that a dam which is more than 100 years old and  built with the then existing technology is safe. The state government should expedite steps to solve the issue soon,” Roy added.According to Mullaperiyar Cell chairman M K Parameshwaran, it was a providential escape this time as the epicentre of the earthquake was far away from the dam area. Various studies had indicated that any mild tremor with magnitude as less as 3.8 within a 16-km radius upstream Mullaperiyar will create gravity acceleration and the dam will not be able to withstand it. Currently the dam’s strength is assessed using static method, but for a dam like Mullaperiyar, dynamic methods have to be used,” he saidParameshwaran added that the state would  submit the data regarding the recent earthquake before the Supreme Court to prove that the dam is located in an earthquake-prone area.