മുല്ലപ്പെരിയാര്‍ അല്പം ചരിത്രം

Mullaperiyar Dam is constructed over the headwaters of the Periyar river in Kerala, India. The Periyar National Park, Thekkady is located around the Periyar reservoir formed by the backwaters of this dam. It is operated by the Government of Tamil Nadu according to a 999-year lease agreement made during erstwhile British colonial rule.
The name is derived from a portmanteau of Mullaiyar and Periyar. As the dam is located after the confluence of the Mullayar and Periyar Rivers, the river and hence the dam came to be called Mullaperiyar
On 29-10-1886 a lease indenture for 999 years was made between Maharaja of Travancore and Secretary of State for India for Periyar irrigation works. The lease indenture inter alia granted full right, power and liberty to construct, make and carry out on the leased land and to use exclusively when constructed, made and carried out all such irrigation works and other works ancillary thereto to Secretary of State for India (Now Tamil Nadu). By another agreement in 1970, Tamil Nadu was permitted to generate power also.
The dam was built by British Army Engineering corps under the supervision of Benny Cook. The fund was stopped by the British government as the under constructed dam was washed away by floods, and a second masonry dam was completed in 1895 with Benny Cook's personal fund as he had developed a intimate relationship with the people of the then Madras state.
The dam's purpose was to divert the waters of the west-flowing Periyar River eastwards, that causes widespread floods in Travancore region, through the construction of a masonry dam, and taking the water from the reservoir through a tunnel cut across the watershed and Western Ghats to the arid rain shadow regions of Theni, Madurai District, Sivaganga District and Ramanathapuram districts of Tamil Nadu . Although Kerala claims that the agreement was forced on the then princely State of Travancore, Presently part of Kerala, the pact was revalidated in 1970 by Kerala and Tamilnadu. The lease provided the British the rights over "all the waters" of the Mullaperiyar and its catchment, for an annual rent of Rs. 40,000.
The government of Tamil Nadu has proposed an increase in the storage level of the dam from the currently maintained 136 feet to 142 feet. The Kerala government has opposed this move, citing safety concerns for the more than hundred year old bridge and especially for the thickly populated districts downstream
Historical background of the dispute
After Indian independence, the states were reorganized and the area surrounding the location of the dam was merged with Kerala State. Tamil Nadu continued to use the water from Periyar for extending irrigation facilities, and later for power generation on the basis of informal agreements between the governments of the two states. In 1970 the Kerala and Tamil Nadu governments signed a formal agreement to renew the 1886 treaty almost completely. The Idukki Hydroelectric project, located 30 km downstream was completed in 1976 by the Kerala government, is still the major resource for irrigation and electricity needs of Kerala. After Independence the areas downstream of the Mullaperiyar had started to become heavily inhabited. In 1979, safety concerns were raised by Kerala Government after a minor earthquake, after which a few leaks were detected in the Mullaperiyar dam. A state agency had reported that the structure would not withstand an earthquake above magnitude 6 on the Richter scale. The then Tamil Nadu government lowered the storage level to the current 136 feet (from 142.2 feet) at the request of the Kerala Government to carry out safety repairs, after which it was suggested that the storage level could be raised to the full reservoir level of 152 feet. Meanwhile the storage levels in the new Idukki dam were not sufficient for the hydroelectric project to work to its full capacity due to insufficient inflow from its catchment areas. Security concerns regarding the downstream inhabitants prompted Kerala to backtrack on the 1970 Agreement in 2000. Another argument put forward by Kerala on the basis of a report on a study conducted state agencies suggested that the loss of habitat to the fauna of Periyar National Park would occur due to flooding after the increase in the storage level.
Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government had increased its withdrawal from the reservoir, with additional facilities to cater to the increased demand from newly irrigated areas. One article estimates that "the crop losses to Tamil Nadu, because of the reduction in the height of the dam, between 1980 and 2005 is a whopping Rs. 40,000 crores. In the process the farmers of the erstwhile rain shadow areas in Tamil Nadu who had started a thrice yearly cropping pattern had to go back to the bi-annual cropping."
However, the Kerala Government maintains that this is not true. During the year 1979-80 the gross area cultivated in Periyar command area was 171307 acres. After the lowering of the level to 136 ft, the gross irrigated area increased and in 1994-95 it reached 2,29,718 acres.
Current status
Tamil Nadu is the custodian of the dam and its surrounding areas. The Supreme Court of India has allowed for the storage level to be raised to 142 feet. A recent law, promulgated by the Kerala government against increasing the storage level has not been objected to by the Supreme Court of India, which termed it as not unconstitutional. But so far Kerala has not objected in giving water to Tamil Nadu. Their main cause of objection is the dams safety as it is as old as 110 years. Increasing the level would add more pressure to be handled by already leaking dam. Obviously no masonry dam will survive for 999 years so a new dam may replace the existing one in near future. In September 2009, the Ministry of Environment and Forests of Government of India granted environmental clearance to Kerala for conducting survey for new dam downstream. Tamil Nadu approached Supreme court for a stay order against the clearance, however, the plea was rejected. Consequently, the survey was started in October, 2009, and is expected to complete within 2 months.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullaperiyar_Dam