New Delhi: The Tamil Nadu government has asked for permission to cut trees to strengthen the baby dam in Mullaperiyar in a meeting of the supervisory committee. The Tamil Nadu government has demanded immediate permission to cut fifteen trees. The representatives of Kerala stated in the meeting that permission including that of the forest department is required to cut trees. The Supervisory Committee then directed the representatives of Gulshan Raj Kerala to take necessary steps for approval.
When the water level in the Mullaperiyar dam rose during the recent monsoon season, Kerala had written to the monitoring committee. A meeting of the supervisory committee was held in Delhi to discuss this letter. The supervisory committee meeting assessed that there is no cause for concern as there is no rain at present.
At the same time, the Tamil Nadu committee was informed that Kerala’s cooperation is needed to take steps to strengthen the Mullaperiyar dam. Kerala’s cooperation was sought for the construction of the approach road to the dam and maintenance of the dam. A permit is required to cut trees to strengthen the baby dam. It was also demanded in the Tamilnadu meeting that this should be given urgently.
The demand of Kerala was that the necessary instrumentation to check the leakage of the dam should be implemented immediately. In the meeting, Kerala also demanded that the final rule curve should be prepared immediately by resolving the dispute. The monitoring committee may visit the dam next month.
The meeting was chaired by Gulshan Raj, Chief Engineer of Dam Safety Organization and Chairman of the Oversight Committee. Secretary Pranab Jyoti Nath, Chief Engineer Alex Varghese and Nodal Officer PG Vijayakumar participated on behalf of Kerala. Additional Chief Secretary Sandeep Saxena representing Tamil Nadu, Cauvery Cell Chairman R. Subramanian participated. Central Water Commission representative S.S. Bakshi also attended the meeting.
