Kerala: Broken Mullaperiyar dam threatens 50 lakh lives

Mullaperiyar dam

The Kerala government has told the Supreme Court that no amount of rejuvenation by any means can perpetuate the 126 years old deteriorated Mullaperiyar dam, built across the Periyar River.

Any failure could have a cascading effect on the Idukki dam situated downstream, which threatens the lives and properties of 50 lakh people, it added. The Kerala government argued that there was a limit to the duration for which one can keep dams in service through maintenance and strengthening measures. The state government said the erratic rainfall and climate change that occurred in the past four years (2018-2021) is of great concern.

"It is in this context that the State of Kerala has urged to maintain the upper rule level at a lower level on September 20 to avoid flash floods downstream of the dam. Hence it was the plea of Kerala to CWC to avoid two peaks in the Upper Rule Levels of Mullaperiyar reservoir", it said in an affidavit.

126
Age of the Mullaperiyar dam

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