From the face book of Vaidyanathan Sriraman
gpk pillai said...Periyar is a 160 year old dam constructed with lime mixture with a total height of 160ft. or so.
British rulers of Madras State had given the life of the dam as 100 years and the agreement with Travancore Maharaja was signed for 99 years. How this changed to 999 years is a mystery as the entire matter was handled by Madras Presidency.
The only other masonry dam of this size and structure was demolished and rebuilt 25 years back somewhere else in the World. Grand Anicut cannot be called a dam but a barrage of insignificant height, and no pressure is caused on the structure as in large dams.
The frequent earthquakes in the dam area has created anxiety in Kerala. If it collapses, the 100 ft. high wall of water would rush down to Idukki dam carrying with it the trees, houses and structures with immense force that might cause collapse of the Idukki dam too and over 75 lakh people living in three districts might be drowned and swept away to sea, the City of Kochi gettiung submerged in 7ft. high waters.
Theoretically, the water of Periyar could be accommodated by Idukki if it is drained to it slowly. But the collapse and 100 ft. high wall of water will carry all debris of huge trees..etc. that might impact the Idukki to collapse.
Why should TN object to a new Dam? TN will continue to get water as before during the construction of the new dam a few hundred metres down the stream. Kerala assures suppy of the same quantity of water from the new dam on commissioning to TN. Entire expenses would be borne by Kerala and Central grants.
Perhaps sanity should prevail over the fissiparious actions seen now in creating venomous animosity between Tamils and Malayalees, by wily Politicians,totally unwarranted.
British rulers of Madras State had given the life of the dam as 100 years and the agreement with Travancore Maharaja was signed for 99 years. How this changed to 999 years is a mystery as the entire matter was handled by Madras Presidency.
The only other masonry dam of this size and structure was demolished and rebuilt 25 years back somewhere else in the World. Grand Anicut cannot be called a dam but a barrage of insignificant height, and no pressure is caused on the structure as in large dams.
The frequent earthquakes in the dam area has created anxiety in Kerala. If it collapses, the 100 ft. high wall of water would rush down to Idukki dam carrying with it the trees, houses and structures with immense force that might cause collapse of the Idukki dam too and over 75 lakh people living in three districts might be drowned and swept away to sea, the City of Kochi gettiung submerged in 7ft. high waters.
Theoretically, the water of Periyar could be accommodated by Idukki if it is drained to it slowly. But the collapse and 100 ft. high wall of water will carry all debris of huge trees..etc. that might impact the Idukki to collapse.
Why should TN object to a new Dam? TN will continue to get water as before during the construction of the new dam a few hundred metres down the stream. Kerala assures suppy of the same quantity of water from the new dam on commissioning to TN. Entire expenses would be borne by Kerala and Central grants.
Perhaps sanity should prevail over the fissiparious actions seen now in creating venomous animosity between Tamils and Malayalees, by wily Politicians,totally unwarranted.
