Agitations under the banner of farmers’ movements have intensified in Tamil Nadu villages bordering Idukki district alleging ‘failure’ on the part of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Government in protecting the interests of farmers while allowing water discharge from the Mullaperiyar dam into the Periyar.
The organisations say the government succumbed to the Kerala demand for keeping the water level in the dam at a low where as it said the apex court had allowed it to keep the storage at 142 ft.
When the water level reached 139 ft, the Tamil Nadu Public Works Department opened the spillway shutters to release water into the Periyar as it crossed the upper rule curve fixed by the Central Water Commission.
The Mullaperiyar dam opening in 2018 had resulted in heavy damage downstream. It also led to the opening of the Idukki dam submerging houses and land in Idukki and Ernakulam districts.
The Opposition AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) called for a Statewide agitation on Tuesday on the ‘failure of the Government in keeping the water level at 142 ft’.
Nearly a decade back it turned into a law and order issue between the two States when the Mullaperiyar agitation council, an organisation of residents downstream of the Mullaperiyar dam, intensified demands for decommissioning the dam.
The issue came to the fore when heavy rain in Idukki in 2018 resulted in flooding and landslips. Last week, the district administration made elaborate arrangements for evacuating people in view of the discharge of water from the dam.
The Mullaperiyar dam serves the irrigation and drinking needs of the districts of Theni, Madurai, Sivaganga, Dindigul, and Ramnad in Tamil Nadu. Following water shortage and poor rainfall, large areas had been kept uncultivated in these districts in the past three years.
The agitation got a fillip in these districts after AIADMK leader O. Panneerselvam led a protest at the border town of Cumbom on Tuesday.
Dharnas were held in the five districts and slogans raised against Kerala. More farmers’ organisations will also join the agitation in the coming days, according to the farmers’ unions.
Mullaperiyar agitation council chairman K.A. Mohandas demanded that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan meet the Prime Minister and seek measures to reduce the water level in the dam to 136 ft.
