Busy panel' has less time to visit Mullaperiyar dam
Subcommittee for Mullaperiyar made its last visit five months ago.
KOTTAYAM: Throwing to wind its very purpose of its constitution, the subcommittee on Mullaperiyar had not visited the dam for the last five months. N. Ramachandran heads the group comprising two representatives each of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The committee constituted by a three-member Supreme Court panel in August 2014 should inspect the dam once in a week. The water level in the dam was at 126.8 feet on Tuesday.
George Daniel, the executive engineer of the irrigation department and a member of the five-member subcommittee, blames it on the unavailability its chairman. "Last time we visited the dam was five months ago. Though we sought time after that, he never obliged. However, after I sent a letter, he had agreed to visit on October 11 and 12," he told DC.
It would visit the dam on a weekly basis to check the water level, rainfall and seepage level and would be intimated to the SC-appointed three-member panel of L.A.V. Nathan, chief engineer, dam safety organisation, central water commission, M. Saikumar, principal secretary (public works), Tamil Nadu, and V.J. Kurian, additional chief secretary, water resources, Kerala.