Mullaperiyar Dam Row
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Mullaperiyar Dam Row Mullaperiyar Dam Row Mullaperiyar Dam is constructed over the headwaters of the Periyar River in Kerala, India. The Periyar National Park, Thekkady is located around the Periyar reservoir formed by the backwaters of this dam. It is operated by the Government of Tamil Nadu according to a 999-year lease agreement made during erstwhile British colonial rule. The name is derived from a portmanteau of Mullaiyar and Periyar. As the dam is located after the confluence of the Mullayar and Periyar Rivers, the river and hence the dam came to be called Mullaperiyar. Periyar river is a west-flowing river of Kerala State. The river flows its full course entirely through Kerala, and derives its water almost exclusively from catchment area (Drainage basin) inside the State. The dam stops the west flowing river to form a reservoir, which is also exclusively located in Kerala. From the reservoir, Tamil Nadu collects water to the eastern side of Western Ghats via a tunnel. On 29 October 1886 a lease indenture for 999 years was made between Maharaja of Travancore and Secretary of State for India for Periyar irrigation works. The lease provided the British the rights over "all the waters" of the Mullaperiyar and its catchment basin, for an annual rent of Rs. 40,000. The dam's purpose was to divert the waters of the west-flowing Periyar River eastward, taking the water from the reservoir through a tunnel cut across the watershed and Western Ghats to the arid rain shadow regions of Theni, Madurai District, Sivaganga District and Ramanathapuram districts of Tamil Nadu. Although Kerala claims that the agreement was forced on the then princely State of Travancore, presently part of Kerala, the pact was revalidated in 1970 by Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The government of Tamil Nadu has proposed an increase in the storage level of the dam from the currently maintained 136 feet (41 m) to 142 feet (43 m). The Kerala government has opposed this move, citing safety concerns for the more than hundred year old bridge and especially for the thickly populated districts downstream. http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com 1 Mullaperiyar Dam Row The Empowered Committee on the Mullaperiyar reservoir, is led by chairman A.S. Anand. The five-member committee has K.T. Thomas and A.R. Lakshmanan, former judges of the Supreme Court; C.D. Thatte, former secretary to the Ministry of Water Resources; and D.K. Mehta, former Chief Engineer, Central Water Commission, as members. http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com 2.