Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Achuthanandan worried about dam’s safety

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said here on Friday that anything could happen to the Mullaperiyar dam anytime. That was what the studies including the latest on seismic hazards and structural stability of the dam showed.

Talking to journalists after a meeting of the Cabinet, the Chief Minister noted that people living downstream of the dam were intensifying their agitation demanding a new dam.

If the dam failed, life and property in five districts would be destroyed.

Asked about Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s demand that the Central Industrial Security Force be deployed for protection of the dam, the Chief Minister wondered what was the point in having them at the dam site. “Would they be able to stop the waters, if the dam fails?”

He recalled that following inspection of the dam by the Central Water Commission in 1979, both Kerala and Tamil Nadu had agreed on a new dam. However, Tamil Nadu subsequently reneged on that.

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