New supervisory committee visits Mullaperiyar dam

Members of newly constituted supervisory committee inspecting the Mullaperiyar dam at Thekkady on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The new supervisory committee formed to ensure safety of the Mullaperiyar dam visited the dam site on Saturday, following a directive of the Supreme Court.

The team travelled from the Thekkady boat landing station to the Mullaperiyar dam through the Vallakkadavu route in the morning. The team inspected the main dam, baby dam, gallery, and the spillway shutters. After the visit, a meeting was held at Kumily.

Sources said Tamil Nadu once again raised the demand for strengthening the baby dam during the meeting.

Officials said it was the first inspection of the dam by the newly formed committee. The committee was formed in 2024 and the first online meeting was held in January this year.

They said, at the meeting, Tamil Nadu’s representatives demanded permission to cut the trees downstream of the baby dam for strengthening it. However, Kerala’s representatives said the application should be resubmitted through the ‘PARIVESH’ portal.

During the meeting, the Tamil Nadu members also demanded repair works of the Ghat road connecting Vallakkadavu with the Mullaperiyar dam. However, the Kerala representatives raised objections to the demand.

National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) Chairman Anil Jain, who is also the Chairman of the supervisory committee, said the inspection of the dam and the meeting thereafter were a smooth affair.

Vivek Tripathi, Disaster and Resilience, NDSA; Additional Chief Secretary, Tamil Nadu, Mangat Ram Sarma; Additional Chief Secretary, Kerala, Tinku Biswal; technical expert, Tamil Nadu, R. Subrahmanyan; and Chief Engineer, Irrigation department, Kerala, R. Priyesh, were members of the supervisory committee.