Bharat Rakshak

Dam: Lime surki mixture not traced even after drilling 92 feet

Posted on: 12 Jan 2012


Kumili: Though the Mullaperiyar dam was drilled 92 feet deep, a strong mixture of lime surki was not found. The digging was done as per the instruction of the SC-appointed Empowered panel to examine the dam. Lack of lime surki mixture proves that the portion made of it, is very weak now, approving the claims of Kerala.

The portion, which were marked earlier for examinations were drilled. The decision was to examine the strength of lime surki obtained after drilling. But even after drilling 92 feet no such mixture was found. The total height of the dam is 155 feet. The portion made of surki lime exists till 90 feet and the rest is made of rock portion.

Lime surki mixture is a mixture of surki stones and jaggery as there was no cement during that time in 1895. When there were suspicions over its strength in 1970, the dam was strengthened with concrete and now it is proved that dam is sustaining due to that. Experts got only sand and rock from the grilled areas. New borehole drilling started in 45-meter gallery of the dam on Wednesday. Drilling was done 2 feet deep here but lime surki was not found as it was strengthened with concrete.

TN PWD secretary Sai Kumar and Dam safety director Paneerselvom reached the dam when they came to know of not finding lime surki mixture. When Kerala was about to get evidence on the weakness of dam, the TN PWD official began efforts to stop the drilling.

Let Kerala give up two taluks to end dam row: Karunanidhi

Posted on: 13 Jan 2012


Chennai : With Kerala insisting on a new dam in place of the Mullaperiyar Dam, DMK president Thursday revived a over five decade old demand: retrieval of Peeramedu and Devikulam taluks from Kerala.

In a statement here, Karunanidhi said: 'Now the central government should correct the wrong committed in 1886 by the British Governor of then Madras Presidency and the injustice committed to Tamil Nadu during the division of states on linguistic basis.'

He hoped that the Tamil Nadu government would take earnest action in retrieving Peeramedu and Devikulam taluks attached to Idukki district in Kerala.

Karunanidhi said the neglect of the demand to annex Peeramedu and Devikulam with Tamil Nadu had resulted in problems over the Mullaperiyar Dam between Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

He said the dam was built in Peeramedu area while the catchment area falls under the Devikulam taluk, and both areas were under the Pandya Kings of Tamil Nadu till the 12th century. { This guy is for real or what, but periyar did not flow east it always has flowed west even under Pandya kings so precedence of water rights then belong downstream only by this logic. }

According to Karunanidhi, historians have said that the British government in 1886 entered into an agreement with the Princely State of Travancore mistaking that the two taluks belonged to the latter.

Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been at loggerheads over the dam, built under an 1886 accord between the then Maharaja of Travancore and the British Raj.

While the dam is located in Kerala, its control is with Tamil Nadu and its waters serve the state.

Tamil Nadu wants the dam's storage capacity to be increased from the current 136 feet (41.5 metres) to 142 feet (43 metres) as per a Supreme Court order. Kerala wants a new dam.

The problem is one state wants to take more than the other can give. And, the other wants more barter than they the needy state willing to provide.

Could you please post links to the Siruvani and Parambikulam 'disputes' please.

I see a lot of "you guys refuse water" arguments everywhere,

"Water is going to be a bigger crisis than energy, considering that the demand is projected to go up by 50% in the years ahead," Ahluwalia said while addressing a press meet at the 94th annual conference of the Indian Economic Association (IEA) here on Wednesday. "Unless we make an apt analysis of the prevailing water balance and plan the use of water, the crisis will only deepen," he added.

Ahluwalia said, "Desalination of sea water can be a solution to meeting the future requirement of water but, the cost of energy required for desalination remains a major impediment."

With the complete denial of all items proposed Kerala by SC committee the agitation has petered out.

The Supreme Court on Friday expressed its displeasure over Karnataka not complying with a direction issued by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, heading the Cauvery River Authority (CRA), to release 9,000 cusecs of Cauvery water daily to Tamil Nadu from September 20 to October 15.

A Bench comprising Justice D.K. Jain and Justice Madan B. Lokur told counsel V.N. Raghupathy, appearing for Karnataka: “This is an order passed by the Prime Minister. But you don’t want to comply… It is really unfortunate that nobody is prepared to listen to the Prime Minister, who is the highest executive authority. Have we reached that stage when you say to the Prime Minister, ‘you pass an order, we will not comply with it’? We are sorry for the kind of respect you have for the Prime Minister.”

The Bench directed Karnataka to comply with the CRA’s order. It issued notice to Karnataka seeking its response within a week to Tamil Nadu’s application, and a rejoinder from Tamil Nadu within a week thereafter.

Senior counsel C.S. Vaidyanathan, appearing for Tamil Nadu, told the court that the CRA had directed Karnataka on September 19 to release 9,000 cusecs from September 20, but the order was not complied with. Since Karnataka had failed to obey the order, it should be treated as constitutional breakdown, and the court should direct the Centre to invoke Article 355 or 356. He said the court might order deployment of the Army in Karnataka to ensure it complied with the order. Typical tamizh chauvinist response. We blame all the ills on Congress and we think narendrabhai can solve all problems.There are issues like KA adamance which is beyond party politics.Sad to see KA attitude

Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi leader Thol Tirumavalavan on Tuesday demanded that the Centre dismiss Karnataka Government for ‘violating’ the orders of Supreme Court and Cauvery River Authority to release water to Tamil Nadu.

DMK President M Karunanidhi has last week urged Prime Minister to dismiss the BJP Government in Karnataka.

Bench says releasing 3,000 cusecs on some days and increasing the quantum on other days may not be justified

The Supreme Court on Friday disapproved of the action of the Karnataka government in releasing 3,000 cusecs to Tamil Nadu on some days and increasing the quantity over and above the stipulated 9,000 cusecs on some other days.

A Bench of Justices D.K. Jain had on September 28 directed Karnataka to comply with the direction issued by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, heading the Cauvery River Authority, to release 9,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu from September 20 to October 15.

The Bench was hearing applications by Tamil Nadu to direct Karnataka to release 2 tmcft of water daily for 24 days till the onset of the northeast monsoon, and Karnataka seeking modification of the September 28 order.

During the resumed hearing Justice Jain after perusing the chart submitted by Karnataka on the water released on each day till now, told senior counsel Fali Nariman appearing for Karnataka: “Your decision to release 3,000 cusecs on some days and increasing the quantum cumulatively on some other days may not be justified. It might result in problems as some areas may be flooded or submerged because of the excess releases.”

Earlier Mr. Nariman told the court that the cumulative releases would show that there was no deficiency as claimed by Tamil Nadu. However, senior counsel C.S. Vaidyanathan submitted that he would demonstrate that as of today there had been a deficiency of 4 tmcft of water and Karnataka could still make up the deficit in the next three days till October 15.

Mr. Vaidyanathan drew the court’s attention to an order passed by the Cauvery Monitoring Committee on Thursday (directing Karnataka to release 8.85 tmcft of water from October 16 to 31 from its reservoirs to Tamil Nadu) and said the order of the CMC would have a bearing in the current proceedings.

Counsel told the court that Karnataka had admitted before the CMC that it had irrigated 12.5 lakh acres as against the 8.5 lakh acres permitted by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal. He said even assuming there was a deficit of 41 per cent rainfall during the southwest monsoon, Karnataka’s share on the basis of pro-rata sharing formula would be only 55 tmcft but it had already utilised 60 tmcft of water. He said he would place before the court the order of the CMC and wanted the court to defer the hearing till October 19. Accordingly the Bench posted the matter for further hearing on October 19 and permitted Karnataka to file a brief additional affidavit and rejoinder by Tamil Nadu by October 16.

Responding to the suggestion made by the Supreme Court, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa will meet her Karnataka counterpart Jagadish Shettar at Bangalore on Thursday in a bid to resolve the Cauvery water-sharing dispute.

The last Chief Minister-level talks on the Cauvery water dispute was held on January 6, 1997, between then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and Karnataka Chief Minister J H Patel.

The Tamil Nadu government had filed a petition before the SC seeking directions to Karnataka to release Cauvery water due during the current year as per the distress sharing formula. When the case came up for hearing on Monday, the Supreme Court had suggested that the Chief Ministers of both States should meet to find a solution to the issue, keeping in mind the interests of farmers in both the States and the case has been posted for Friday, an official release here said. It added that the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister will be meeting her Karnataka counterpart as per the suggestion made by the apex court.

The depleting storage level in the Mettur dam due to the non-release of water by Karnataka and the inadequate northeast monsoon have added to the woes of farmers in Tamil Nadu.

The Chief Ministers had last met at the Cauvery Regulatory Authority meeting on September 19 at Delhi, in which Shettar had staged walk out against the direction of the PM to ensure release of 9,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu on a daily basis.

After nearly six years, the final award of the Cauvery water dispute tribunal will be notified by the end of this month, states sharing the disputed Cauvery river waters were informed today.

At a meeting of the Cauvery monitoring committee (CMC) , secretary water resources D V Singh who chairs the panel told representatives of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry that steps "shall" be taken to notify the final award of the tribunal at the earliest, "but not later than the end of this month."

The meeting of the CMC was convened today to give an interim order on water sharing between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Once a gazette notification is issued, institutions like the Cauvery River Authority (CRA) chaired by the Prime Minister and the CMC will cease to exist.
The Tribunal, comprising chairman Justice N P Singh and members N S Rao and Sudhir Narain, in a unanimous award in February, 2007 had determined the total availability of water in the Cauvery basin at 740 thousand million cubic (TMC) feet at the Lower Coleroon Anicut site.

The proceedings of the Tribunal, set up in June, 1990, went on for more than 16 years.

In, what was then described as a balancing act, the Tribunal gave Tamil Nadu 419 TMC of water(as against the demand of 562 TMC); Karnataka 270 TMC (as against its demand of 465 TMC); Kerala 30 TMC and Puducherry 7 TMC.

For environmental protection, it had reserved 10 TMC. The Tribunal's award will come into effect within 90 days of its notification by the Centre. As per law, the award comes into being after being notified by the Centre through its publication in a gazette.

Activists of the hardline pro-Kannadiga outfit, Kannada Rakshana Vedike staged a protest rally in Mysore against the Supreme Court's directive to the Karnataka Government to share the waters of the River Cauvery with neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

Sharing the water of River Cauvery has been a bone of contention between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for over three decades.

Earlier this year, the apex Court upheld the directive by the Cauvery River Authority (CRA), to the Karnataka government to release 9,000 cusecs water of River Cauvery from Krishnaraja Sagara Reservoir (KRS) to Tamil Nadu.

D Sundar, a functionary of the Kannada Rakshana Vedike, said: "In fact, it is for both the Chief Ministers (of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu) to sit and have thorough parleys on the issue. Of course, Jayalalithaa (of Tamil Nadu) came to Bangalore and discussed with her counterpart but the talks remained inconclusive since she was adamant, unaware of the problems faced by Karnataka."

Upset over the Supreme Court's verdict, the activists also said that interest of the local people has been ignored.

"But today, we the people of Karnataka are very much upset over the Supreme Court's directive to release 10,000 cusecs of water daily for Tamil Nadu. No doubt, we ought to respect the Supreme Court's order but the sad part is that it has been arbitrary and the sufferers are the general public in Karnataka and the farmers in particular. We are ashamed that Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar (of Karnataka) who initially said that not even a drop would be shared with Tamil Nadu, clandestinely released water during the twilight hours. You should go there (Krishnaraja Sagara Dam from where the waters of River Cauvery was released) and see for yourself how it has been turned into a fortress with strong deployment of police. This is not done; local interests have been ignored," added Sundar.

However, the police acted sternly and rounded up the protestors from the spot.

Commenting on these developments, former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, said: "Karnataka is suffering not from today, it is suffering from last 120 years. We have been put to such harassment. We are unable to take even a single crop that to dry-cum-wet and only 8 to 10 lakh acres wet and all other areas are dry-cum-wet. This is the situation. Whereas Tamil Nadu is taking three crops and they don't want to sympathise with the Karnataka people. Unfortunately, even at the national level, there was such an adverse propaganda

Meanwhile, the Karnataka Government submitted a petition to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, requesting him to grant a stay on the decision of Cauvery River Authority (CRA) that ordered sharing of waters with Tamil Nadu.

Prime Minister heads the panel, consisting of Chief Ministers of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

Karnataka has already filed a plea before the CRA to reconsider its order in wake of rain deficiency and prevailing drought-like situation in the region

The Hon’ble Supreme Court’s inquiry whether the Government of India is not thinking of notifying the Cauvery Tribunal’s Award, and the government’s indication that it might do so shortly, represent a major new development. The Tribunal’s Final Order of February 2007 ought to have been notified in the gazette in 2007 itself, but it was not. If it is at last going to be notified, that is a matter for satisfaction. However, this gives rise to some intriguing questions.

1. One wonders why the Supreme Court did not ask this question much earlier, say five years ago, when it admitted the Special Leave Petitions of the States.

2. It appears that the hesitation that the government had evidently felt earlier about notifying the Award because of the pendency of the Special Leave Petitions (SLP) of the States was uncalled for. If so, the delay in notifying the Award was pointless and unfortunate.

3. The Supreme Court has given no indication as to whether, and if so when, it proposes to take up the SLPs for hearing. As and when it does so, we do not know what the outcome will be. However, that bridge can be crossed when it is reached.

4. The Tribunal cannot function until a new Chairman is appointed in place of the earlier chairman who has resigned. One hopes that the Government of India will do this promptly.

5. Even if the Award is notified and a new Chairman is appointed, the Tribunal will still have to be persuaded to overcome its earlier reluctance to take up the clarificatory petitions for consideration. The fact that the Supreme Court evidently sees no objection to the notification of the Final Order would ipso facto seem to imply that the Tribunal can go ahead and consider the clarificatory petitions.

6. Once the Final Order comes into effect on notification, it will be final and binding on the disputant States, and will have to be complied with fully. The fact that the SLPs are pending cannot be the ground for non-compliance with the Award on the part of any State. After its notification it cannot be put into limbo. As and when the SLPs are disposed of by the Supreme Court, the impact of the judgment on the Tribunal’s Award will have to be considered, but until then the Award will have to be obeyed.

7. Similarly, the fact that clarificatory petitions are pending with the Tribunal does not mean that the Final Order can be kept in abeyance.

8. Once the Final Order is notified, the Interim Order will cease to be in force. The Cauvery River Authority (CRA) and the Cauvery Monitoring Committee (CMC) will cease to exist because they were created specifically for monitoring the implementation of the Interim Order. There will thus be an institutional vacuum until the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) is established. It is therefore necessary to establish the CMB immediately. One hopes that the States will cooperate with the Centre and with one another in the establishment of the CMB and in its smooth functioning thereafter. In the interim, it may be necessary to re-establish the CRA and the CMC with specific reference to the Final Order.

9. The first task of the CMB should be to work out a formula for water-sharing in difficult (i.e., low-flow) years.

Kerala Tuesday alleged Tamil Nadu has violated the Parambikulam-Aliyar river pact (PAP) and said it would explore legal steps to get its due share of water. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told the assembly that Wednesday cabinet would discuss the issue and consider all options.

"If necessary the issue will be taken up with the Chief Minister of that State. It is Kerala's right to get our due share under the PAP agreement. The state will do everything possible to get it', Chandy said.

He said Tamil Nadu had not responded positively to Kerala's request to release its due share even after water Resources Minister wrote two letters in this regard. He was replying to a notice for an adjournment motion on the severe drought conditions prevailing in the state.

Seeking a debate on the motion, LDF brought to the notice of the house the drought situation in Chittoor taluk and other parts of Palakkad district and the urgency with which the government had to take up the issue with Tamil Nadu.

With TN not releasing water to Kerala, paddy cultivation in about 20,000 hectares in Placard district was under the threat of destruction, they claimed. LDC Opposition members staged a walkout in protest against Speaker G Katheryn's refusal to admit the motion following Chandy's reply.

Reading humble bumble farmer's(Ex PM of India Shri Deve Gowda) statement on 'injustice' to KA one wonders whether this whole thing called India is one big fake.He is talking about waters which in the first place do not belong to KA and which has been alloted to TN by Supreme Court.It is KAs fault if they have increased area under cultivation without pondering whether they have any rights over the waters.

No personal grievance, but when people claim farming rights from generations it does tick people off who are in modern day professions with no guarantee of jobs in their chosen profession.

Rule of the law is great and as I already said, we all have to oblige to this like it or not. But it does not mean laws are not made on false premises sometimes, if not always.