Talks on decommissioning Mullaperiyar dam today

KOCHI: The state government has begun discussions and consultations on the ways and  methods for decommissioning the existing dam at Mullaperiyar. In the backdrop of the Empowered Panel’s ultimatum to Kerala to come up with its response on what can be done with the existing dam if a new dam is constructed, a high-level meeting will be held in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday about the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the new dam and the method to be opted for dismantling the existing one. A meeting of the Inter-State Waters (ISW) advisory council and another meeting to be attended by Water Resources Minister P J Joseph will be held to discuss the issues. The Irrigation Department has prepared a draft  form of the DPR and has presented to the ISW advisory council. Now, the Mullaperiyar Cell will recast the report, to make it suitable for presenting before the Empowered Panel. “We have started discussions on what to do with the existing dam. Unlike other dams across the world, we have a peculiar situation here. We feel there is no need for dismantling the entire structure. That will invite criticisms from forest officials and environmentalists. So we are planning to suggest decommissioning the structure. Only a  part of the dam need to be demolished then. The Baby dam, the earth dam and about 100 feet of the main dam, which is adjacent to the earth dam, need to be dismantled,” pointed out M K Parameswaran Nair of the Mullaperiyar Cell.Also while demolishing the main dam, the structure need to be demolished only up to 94 feet height. “We need to look at how we can make water in the existing dam flow to the new structure. If the existing dam is demolished only up to the height of 94 feet, the two structures (the existing dam and the new one) would be of the same height and water will naturally flow to the new dam,” he said.  Though the officials have not fixed a time frame for decommissioning the existing dam,  it is estimated that the process would take about nine months’ time.  “We need to construct a road up to Vallakkad, through the forest road. Once we get a green signal from the panel we will go ahead with the preliminary proceedings,” they said.