Accusing Kerala of “manufacturing” tremors at its sweet will, several engineering and water management experts of Tamil Nadu on Friday said the mild tremors in the Mullaiperiyar dam area are nothing more than vibrations caused by a passing truck.
Describing the entire Mullaiperiyar issue as “purely engineering and technical, but not political”, Mr Veerappan, retired chief engineer of Tamil Nadu PWD, told Deccan Chronicle that the Mullaiperiyar dam site and Chennai are in the same seismic zone (III) and the areas only witness mild tremors ranging between 3.5 and 4.2 on the Richter scale.
“The tremors at Mullaiperiyar dam site are nothing more than the vibrations caused by the movement of an ordinary lorry,” Mr Veerappan opined, hitting out at the Dr Manmohan Singh-led UPA regime and some Left parties here for pushing the idea of holding fresh negotiations when the matter is sub judice.
He appreciated chief minister J. Jayalalithaa for urging her Kerala counterpart to implement the SC verdict of 2006 to increase the water level, which was received with thunderous applause by a jam-packed hall of enthusiastic public who attended the ‘truth and lies about Dam999’ organised by the institute of engineers.
Asserting that the dam was strong, Mr Veerappan said even if it fails at full reservoir level of 152 ft, there would be “no causality” since the human settlements like Vandiperiyar, Kumili and Pullumedu are way above the reach of floodwaters.
“The settlements are 2,743 ft above sea level while the flood flow will be at 2,450 ft above sea level,” he said, adding the flood would not reach human habitations.
The water, when it reaches Idukki dam, which is around 50 km away, would have only a pressure or force of 3 feet per second, he pointed out. Father Jegath Gaspar accused some vested interests in Kerala, particularly hoteliers owning resorts on the Periyar river banks, of funding the anti-Mullaiperiyar campaign.
