Mullaperiyar Dam (Malayalam: മുല്ലപെരിയാര്‍ അണകെട്ട് ) is a masonry gravity dam on the Periyar River.

It is located 881 m (2,890 ft) above mean sea level on the Cardamom Hills of the Western Ghats in Thekkady, Idukki District of Kerala, South India. It was constructed between 1887 and 1895 by the British Government to divert water eastwards to Madras Presidency area (the present-day Tamil Nadu). It has a height of 53.6 m (176 ft) from the foundation and length of 365.7 m (1,200 ft).[1] The Periyar National Park in Thekkady is located around the dam's reservoir

The dam and the river are owned by and located in Kerala [1] but the dam is controlled and operated under a period lease by neighboring Tamil Nadu state.[1] The control and safety of the dam and the validity and fairness of the lease agreement have been points of dispute between Kerala and Tamil Nadu states.[6] The dam is an 'endangered' scheduled dam under the Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2006.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

What will happen to Kerala and South India if Mullaperiyar Dam breaks?

What will happen if Mullaperiyar Dam Collapses ? this question has been haunting minds of every Malayalee.The political battle over the Mullaperiyar dam is getting hotted up. The dam has a long history of 115 years, is also one of the oldest dams in India. It is situated at Idukki district in the Kerala portion in the Tamilnadu Kerala boarder. The dam happens to be sitting on a highly earthquake prone area and minor tremors are common in this region. In the event of a dam collapse, water stored up in the dam will rush down towards Arabian Sea destroying everything in its path including the lives and properties of lakhs of people.Concerns in Kerala stem from questions about the dam's ability to withstand high magnitude earthquakes and the possible impact of such natural disasters on the lives of over three million people in the state's Idukki, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Pathanamthitta districts.
 
 

Here are some facts that's possible if Mullaperiya Dam breaks.

1) Under water sea cable for internet connectivity connects India to rest of the world , thats only in Cochin. If Cochin Goes Down, South Indian IT Hub will come to a stand still. All the gateway CISCO routers , switches etc in Kakkanad will float in Arabian Ocean. IP packets from Bangalore, Chennai etc will not cross the ocean.

2) Cochin Refineries - Which refines petroleum products and services most of South India. If it is washed away, TamilNadu, Karnataka and Andhra has to find much more expensive options for Petroleum Refineries.

3) Kerala will be in complete darkness for ages, no TV, no Internet, no Mobile towers, once the Idukki hydro electric power plant is washed away, resulting from Mullaperiyar collapse.

4) Kerala... will be divided into 2 lands, impacting geography of India, and washing away an area of vast bio diversity, along with 30 lakh people. Serving rest of the people with food and other stuffs will be an extremely tedious task.

5) Port City of Cochin, will not be in world map anymore. Vallarpadam port will be a history, all of South India has to again depend on Colombo for Mother ships , a very expensive option.
6) Tamil Nadu will not get water for irrigation or drinking anymore, as stored water in Mullaperiyar dam will flow to the ocean, when the dam collapses.

7) Along its course, the water current will wash Idukki Dam, and many many Industries , Factories, IT Parks, Hospitals, Ports, Cochin City, temples, mosques, churches etc etc to the Arabian Ocean.

8) A disaster 180 times terrific than Hiroshima. This is not exaggeration. Spread this, my friends. Information is power. Kerala as well as Tamil Nadu are stakeholders in this issue. More than us, its normal Tamil people(excluding power-hungry politicians) who need such info. We need our brothers and sisters across the border to pressurize their own politicians to consider this as a humanitarian crisis, rather than an inter-state dispute.

Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More