New Delhi: Kerala on Monday asked the central government to give environmental clearance for constricting a new dam at Mullaperiyar.
Kerala has obtained legal advice which says that if environmental clearance is not given, Kerala can take over the dam from Tamil Nadu after canceling the deed.
State government sources report that after having discussions with the central government, if Tamil Nadu does not oblige to solve the issue, Kerala would proceed with dam construction. But the door to solve the issue is not closed, said minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and P J Joseph who will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday and apprise about the state's anxiety and other aspects of the Mullaperiyar dam.
The State would urge the Prime Minister to intervene and resolve the vexed issue between Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile the recurrence of mild tremors in Idukki district in Kerala is causing concern over the safety of the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam, located on the borders with Tamil Nadu.
As many as 26 mild tremors and after-vibrations have occurred in parts of Idukki and adjoining Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts since January this year, officials said.
Any such incident is of great concern for Kerala as Mullaperiyar dam, set to be in a vulnerable state is situated in the district.
Mullaperiyar dam was built when this part of Kerala was part of the Travancore princely state and Tamil Nadu under the Madras province under the British rule.
The dam has since then been a major source irrigation for the agricultural belt of central Tamil Nadu districts. For the past two decades however, the dam has been a subject of hot dispute between the neighbouring states.
While Kerala wants to decommission the structure and build a new one, that idea has not found favour with Tamil Nadu. Apart from local resistance groups, political parties on both sides have often taken aggressive postures on the issue.
In 2006, Kerala government passed the Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation (Amendment) Act 2006, which prohibited the raising of water level beyond 136 ft in the Mulla Periyar Dam as it was placed under the Schedule of 'Endangered Dams'
Mathrubhumi English - Kerala seeks permission for new dam
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