Mullaperiyar dam

Mullaperiyar dam

The dam is located in the upper reaches of the river Periyar, which flows into Kerala after originating in Tamil Nadu. The reservoir is within the Periyar Tiger Reserve. 

The water diverted from the reservoir is first used for power generation in lower Periyar (by Tamil Nadu) before flowing into the Suruliyar, a tributary of Vaigai river, and then for irrigating nearly 2.08 lakh hectares in Theni and four other districts farther away.

How it began

In 1886, the then Maharaja of Travancore signed the ‘Periyar Lease Deed’ with the British government, which considered the Periyar waters useless to Travancore. 

It wanted to divert the water into arid regions of Tamil Nadu. The Maharaja signed the agreement after 20 years of resistance. In 1895, the dam was constructed. 

The Madras government started hydel power generation in 1959. Later, the capacity was increased to 140 MW.

Safety concerns around the dam date back to the early 1960s, when media reported it was unsafe. Kerala brought up the issue before the Central Water Commission in 1961.

 After a joint inspection by Kerala and Tamil Nadu in 1964, the water level was reduced for the first time, from 155 ft to 152 ft

Source Indian express