Dam 999

Dam 999 is the title of a Malyalam movie under production.This movie is a Hollywood-Mollywood production on Mullai periyar .This dam was built by Britishers and the dam was leased out for 999 years to the then Madras Presidency by the Britishers. The 999 in the film title refers to the 999 years lease.After Independence when States were reorganised on linguistic basis the dam site became part of Kerala.This film is produced by a Dubai based business man Sohan Roy. He is also directing the movie .If one goes by the press reports and the interview of Mr.Roy, the movie is likely to portray the Kerala stand on the Mullaiperiyar row.The Kerala government stand is that the dam is not safe and increasing water levels would jeopardise the lives of those living in the down stream districts of kerala.The matter is subjudice.At this point,a film on this issue should not create unnecessary controversies.People who matter,at the helm in both states should earnestly try to resolve the issue sans political bias and narrow prejudices.The whole controversy is not about sharing the river water,but is about increasing the storage level of the reservoir.To my mind it is an absolute technical point.There can not be two sides to this issue.There could be only one fact.Tamil nadu demands increase in storage levels based on supreme courts order.Kerala continues to maintain,the dam is weak and if the storage levels are increased it could be disasterous and catastrophical.It is very unfortunate the technical people on both states are also taking sides and not coming out with the true position of the dam.The experts committee on technical feasiblility says storage levels can be increased since repair works have been carried out by Tmailnadu. But the Kerala earth science experts say the area where the dam is situated is prone to earthquakes and the dam can not withstand an earth quake.It is also true this area has experienced several tremors for some time.It is slowly snowballing in to an emotive issue.

Farming groups on the Tamilnadu side is giving pressure to the Tamilnadu government since irrigation and drinking water needs of the five rain shadow districts of Tamilnadu depends solely on the water release from Mullaiperiyar.Vast areas of land have already become barren and more than 8000 hectares of land went dry.It is high time politicians on both sides stop playing to the gallery and address the real issue with a view to resolve the issue rather than prolonging it by legal wrangles and litigations.It is very deplorable that all such issues between states are looked upon with a hidden regional and parochial agenda by those in power.This approach can never solve issues of this sort.Don't we have technical expertise to resolve an essentially technical issue? What prevents us from doing that?.The answer is dirty politics.One sincerly hopes better sense would prevail among our politicians of both states and would soon find ways to come out of this tangle.Let not Dam 999 producers complicate the issue and make it complex by projecting the consequences of a dam break in their movie.