State to go ahead with Mullaperiyar dam plan

KOCHI: Even as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha’s statement has kicked up a fresh row, Kerala is going ahead with plans for the construction of a new dam at Mullaperiyar. Sources confirmed that the final draft of the feasibility report on the new dam had almost been prepared and it would be submitted before the empowered panel within two weeks. On Wednesday, the Mullaperiyar cell sent a communication in this regard to the chief engineer, Inter-State Waters (ISW).Meanwhile, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has called a meeting of the top officials to discuss all the issues related to the inter-state water disputes on June 21 in Thiruvananthapuram. Apart from Water Resources Minister P J Joseph, top officials of the Mullaperiyar cell, Inter-State Waters Advisory Committee, Irrigation Department and other officials concerned will attend the meet, which will look into the current status of the Mullaperiyar issue. “We have already filed our response to the contentions of Tamil Nadu regarding the construction of the new dam, before the Supreme Court. The matter is currently before the consideration of the apex court. Hence there is no point in demanding an intervention from the Prime Minister now,” Irrigation Chief Engineer P Lathika said. A hearing on the petitions submitted by Tamil Nadu in this regard has been posted to July 5. The Kerala Government has given final touches for the feasibility report to be submitted before the empowered committee on Mullaperiyar under Justice A S Anand. The feasibility report, prepared by the Irrigation Department, will be submitted based on the recommendations and suggestions by the Mullaperiyar special cell and the Inter State-Waters Advisory Committee. “The state government has made it clear that there is no change in the earlier stance on the construction of new dam at Mullaperiyar. The state will soon submit the feasibility report before the panel. It should be ensured that the feasibility study by the state is complete in all respects. Only then we can expect a favourable reply from them. The empowered panel is expected to come up with a decision on the issue by next month,” Mullaperiyar cell chairman M K Parameswaran said.Sources said that the state had also started preparing the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the new dam. Once the panel approves the feasibility report, the DPR would be submitted, they said.