Dam right, not damned !
By- Pamarty Venkataramana
Let’s begin this story with an extract from published record –
..’ Mullaperiyar dam issue is between two south Indian states that is between Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It was 116 years ago; the dam was built on the Periyar River to restore the water. The dam totally belongs to the state of Kerala but it was given on lease to the Tamil Nadu on 29th October, 1886 for 999 years.. ‘
Kerala is as is well known a small South Indian State often dubbed as ‘God’s own country’ for its beauty and natural charms.
There are fourteen rivers flowing inwards through this State and only two other rivers flow ( one each ) into modern day neighbouring States of Tamilnadu and Karnataka.
Having said this,it is pertinent to note that the hasty retreat of the colonial rulers from England in 1947 bifurcating the Indian nation into three new countries called Pakistan , Bangladesh (rechristened) and India (‘that is Bharat’) led to subsequent reorganisation of States of India into newer units of administration based on linguistic basis . Several anomalies occurred and still continue after several decades. There are for instance few villages in the western State of Maharashtra and Karnataka where their villages do not figure in revenue maps of either States and ‘voters’ are transported by politicians of both States to cast votes in respective States during poll season. Such incongruous instances galore.
And so when then Madras State was reorganised, by virtue of said long lease of 999-years executed by a pre-independence princely ruler of Travancore State in favour of the Government of the Queen of England, this dam was let to be catering to State of Tamilnadu although it came to be situated in the newly formed State of Kerala.
This dam is situated in Kerala State but is maintained and fully operated by the State of Tamilnadu!
As years passed by and sometime during the 1970s,local political outfits began to create an issue out of non-issue. By 1980s,the tempo picked up and the battlegrounds shifted to the courts of law : the Honourable Supreme Court of India even appointed technical experts to study,evaluate,ascertain whether allegations made by the Kerala Petitioners that the dam was going to burst and flood large tracts of land were true. The reports were submitted one after another and all of those findings were that it is technically as robust as was meant to be due to the sturdy pre-cement era materials used in the construction of the structure of the dam.
Not to forget a state when rumours impacted life in Kerala and establishments like schools and offices were shut down in anticipation of the deluge that never happened thankfully!
It is odd to notice that to this date there are a few enterprising public interest litigants prepared to waste away both qualification and life’s energies to crusade for the reconstruction of a dam after seeking a court directive to stop letting the State of Tamilnadu to utilise the waters from this dam.
This is but an indicator of the times of faulty governance we live in. As we all sing a national anthem and salute one flag as citizens of the Indian Republic,yet we fail to link al rivers of the country or amicably share river waters.
Kerala is endowed with surplus waters to generate electricity and provide water to neighbouring States. Brahmaputra river in the north (like the perennial river Ganga ) can supply fresh water down south to Ramanathapuram district via pipeline. The most advanced technology for such pipelines is available in the country.
Who listens to sane advice for real ‘good governance’ nowadays ? It is only the bunch of ‘elected members of Parliament’ who are inducted into the Union Cabinet ( unless it be an old foxy politico or famous screen star ) or anonymous set of bureaucrats who studied chemistry or botany at school and manning the transport,health or municipal administration departments that lay down policies of State.
que sera sera!
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