The Centre should constitute a committee comprising experts from across the globe to study the condition of the 129-year-old Mullaperiyar Dam, Major Archbishop Emeritus of the Syro Malabar Church Cardinal Mar Alencherry has said.
Speaking after inaugurating a mass hunger strike organised at High Court Junction here by the Mullaperiyar Jana Samrakshana Samiti on Tuesday, he said there was increasing concern about the safety of the dam and the resultant risk to the life of over 40 lakh people from Idukki and neighbouring districts. He rued that the Centre and the governments of Tamil Nadu and Kerala were ignoring the concerns raised by the people of Kerala, despite hundreds losing their lives in the 2018 deluge and the recent landslides in Wayanad.
He said the weather was increasingly becoming unpredictable due to global warming, and cloudbursts accompanied by unprecedented rainfalls were being reported in the State.
Alternatives
Referring to an article published by a former civil servant, Cardinal Alenchery said there were alternatives, including the construction of a dam downstream by Tamil Nadu, in order to store the excess water from the Mullaperiyar Dam.
In his address, Thodupuzha-based scholar Abdul Kareem Saqafi said that the Kerala government was apathetic to the cause and failed to submit documents regarding the dam’s condition before the Supreme Court, even as the life of a huge number of people was at stake.
The ageing dam must be decommissioned and action taken against a senior civil servant and chief engineer from the State who readied a report contrary to Kerala’s concerns, said Roy Varicatt, chairman of the Mullaperiyar Jana Samrakshana Samiti.
Inaugurating the valedictory function, Bharath Dharma Jan Sena (BDJS) president Thushar Vellappally said that the dam issue would be brought to the notice of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Swamy Ayyapadas, Cor Episcopa Fr. Sleeba Paul Vattavelil, and Fr. Elias Cherukat were present.
Published - September 24, 2024 08:30 pm IST
