Mullaperiyar dam: it’s our science versus your science now

Two Kerala ministers, PJ Joseph and KM Mani, will not believe anybody but themselves on the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam and seem to be extremely sure of their knowledge on the issue, its engineering and the scientific studies commissioned by the state government. It is not surprising that they don’t care much for the report of the empowered committee which was asked to study the safety of the dam by the Supreme Court. Neither do they care much for the call for restraint by the Congress leaders in the state. They, along with many others, think the report is one-sided and favours Tamil Nadu and the state should push ahead with a new dam although the issue is still pending in the Supreme Court and supporting the Kerala Congress ministers is the opportunistic opposition. [caption id=“attachment_302507” align=“alignright” width=“380” caption=“The mullaperiyar dam.Image from Jayeshj at ml.wikipedia”]  [/caption] Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan slammed the report for being one-sided while former water resources minister MK Premachandran said the report appeared tailor-made for Tamil Nadu, and had inaccuracies - factual, legal and technical. Joseph was the first to react to the report and part of his intemperate charges were aimed at former Supreme Court judge, Justice KT Thomas, who was Kerala’s representative in the five-member empowered committee. Joseph, who is known more for his dramatic statements on the dam than the performance of his water resources ministry, criticised Thomas for not standing by Kerala, despite being its nominee, and the reports of the IITs in Rourkee and Delhi. Although they didn’t say this in as many words, the stand by Joseph and Premachandran appeared to be that Thomas, as a nominee of the state, should have got a report that favoured Kerala. Joseph’s remarks were followed by dam-protestors headed by a Christian priest leading a march to the the residence of Thomas. Thomas was upset and said he would complain to the Supreme Court against Joseph. If the Supreme Court thought that an expert committee, headed by former Chief Justice AS Anand, competent technical experts and members of the two states would be an impartial and scientific approach to settle the nagging issue legally; the aftermath of the report shows that politics doesn’t see reason or science. Unless the state gets a report that supports the dominant opinion in Kerala and that of the Kerala Congress, the issue cannot be laid to rest. And Tamil Nadu will never let it happen. (Kerala Congress, for the uninitiated, is not the Kerala unit of the Indian National Congress, but a highly influential local outfit dominated by the Syrian Christian community of the hill belt.) Despite the political compulsions and pressure from the Kerala Congress, the Congress exercised considerable restraint and asked people not to stoke passion afresh. The dam had created a lot of bad blood between the people of the neighbouring states, which even led to attacks, counter-attacks and an economic blockade. The Congress appeared to have consciously taken a stand, at least for now, not to give in to the Kerala Congress, which is a frequent source of political blackmail for the party. Those who spoke for the party stood by KT Thomas and called for restraint. The president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) Ramesh Chennithala said the state should argue its case in the Supreme Court and look for favourable points within the expert committee report. Kerala can, in fact, argue for a new dam based on the report. State electricity minister Arayadan Mohammed, another senior Congress leader, although disagreed with the report, supported the stand taken by Justice Thomas. Chief Minister Oomen Chandy refused to comment. It’s clear that the Congress is not with the Kerala Congress on the report. Tamil Nadu, on the other hand, didn’t have any major comments except a sense of vindication. Mullaperiyar is the most sensitive political issue that pits people and politicians in Kerala and Tamil Nadu against each other. The dam is 116 years old and the spat on its safety, fueled by provincial nationalism in both the states has been raging for more than 30 years. The present spate of judicial interventions started in 2006 when the Supreme Court ordered raising of the level of the water in the dam from 136ft to 142ft; but Kerala, through a legislation in the assembly blocked it. Tamil Nadu went to court against it, and in 2010, the Supreme Court left it to an empowered committee to conduct various safety studies and apprise the court. The committee has now said that the dam is safe, which the Kerala Congress and the opposition say is against its interest of the state and is unacceptable. In two months, the Supreme Court will take a call on the issue after examining the report and hearing the arguments of both the states. Kerala can make all its arguments in the court and try to win its case. Will it settle the issue? Not likely. Kerala will not back out unless it gets the decision it wants - they want to hear that the dam is unsafe and they can build a new dam. And Tamil Nadu wants to hear that the dam is absolutely safe and that there is no need for a new dam. Interestingly, the empowered committee’s report is based on scientific studies by national institutions. But Kerala doesn’t buy the committee’s science because it has its own science - studies conducted by IITs in Rourkee and Delhi. When politics, statecraft and law couldn’t solve the issue, many thought science might. But that has now led to an argument between “our science” vs “your science”. Obviously, one appears bad and slanted while the other is too good. Perhaps the only way for both the states is to agree, rather philosophically, is that there is more than one right answer.