Report by Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) in Original Application No 184, 233 and 234 of 2024 (SZ) (Suo Motu Vs The Principal Secretary, Kerala & Others). The matter related to mass fish kill in Periyar river in Kerala after suspected effluent release. The NGT was informed that the …
KOCHI: Ending a long delay in setting up the bridge cum regulator project across the Periyar River at Pathalam and Purappillikkavu, the irrigation department has finally fixed the dates for opening tenders. The prequalification tenders for setting up the Pathalam bridge will be opened on Monday. At a time when …
PCB sitting on schemes to check dumping of waste into river The Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has been sitting on two key projects meant to check dumping of industrial and other effluents into the Periyar river, pointing to negligence on the part of the agency on a matter …
KOCHI: Expressing concern over the increasing incidents of fish deaths in the Periyar River, environmentalists brushed aside the claims made by Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) that the fish had died due to oxygen starvation. “It is common for the levels of dissolved oxygen (DO) in the water to …
Setting at rest the controversy over the safety of the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam, the Empowered Committee, headed by the former Chief Justice of India A.S. Anand, has said it is “structurally and hydrologically safe, and Tamil Nadu can raise the water level from 136 to 142 feet after carrying out …
Endosulfan among toxins found in water samples The water in most of the areas upstream of the Periyar such as Pathalam bund near the Edayar industrial site, the point where Chalakkal Thodu joins the Periyar, the riverside near FACT and near the Merchem Edayar discharge point contained dangerous chemicals such …
The entire Western Ghats must be considered as ecologically sensitive, especially to ensure the sustainability of the rivers of the Indian Peninsula, the Madhav Gadgil Committee report has said. Peninsular rivers such as the Krishna, Godavari and Cauvery that drain the Deccan Plateau and flow eastwards originate in the Western …
KOCHI: A study conducted by the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST), Thiruvananthapuram, revealed that the water in the Periyar river is highly toxic. Of the 200 samples collected by the lab from various points of the river, many were found to be poisonous. A report in this …
5.5 km road runs through an environmentally fragile area The Kerala State Coastal Zone Management Authority (KSCZMA) has recommended that the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) provide clearance for the Goshree Island Development Authority's (GIDA) Rs. 97-crore Moolamppilly-Pizhala, Valiya Kadamakkudi-Chathanad Road. The 5.5-km road, passing through an environmentally …
Action initiated against local bodies and industrial units The State Pollution Control Board has initiated action against local bodies and industrial units found polluting the Periyar River, based on the water quality levels at select monitoring stations. The Ernakulam Regional Office of the board has asked the Kalamassery Municipality to …
Kerala favours independent panel for water regulation, Tamil Nadu is against new dam itself Kerala has maintained that it is agreeable to the constitution of an independent committee, with representatives of both Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the Union of India, for regulation of the waters of a new Mullaperiyar …
Interview with Ramaswamy R. Iyer, former Secretary, Union Ministry of Water Resources. THE controversy over the Mullaperiyar dam has acquired emotional overtones, with both Kerala and Tamil Nadu adopting intractable positions on the future of the dam. Is there a middle ground? In this interview, Ramaswamy R. Iyer, a well-known …
Tamil Nadu sticks to its contention that the Mullaperiyar dam is safe and the construction of a new dam is unwarranted. THE Tamil Nadu government's display of calm confidence in its stand-off with Kerala over the Mullaperiyar dam issue is in sharp contrast to the anger among farmers in Madurai, …
SUBMERGE the polemics, legal tangles and conflicting technical claims, and the participants in the inter-State dispute over the Mullaperiyar dam – one of the oldest and highest ‘solid masonry gravity dams' in the world – will no longer be able to ignore the anxiety and panic that the 116-year-old structure …
IDUKKI (Kerala), 23 DEC: Technical experts on the Supreme Court-appointed empowered committee on Mullaperiyar Dam issue today began their visit of dams in Idukki district and adjoining areas to provide inputs for the panel to draw up its report on the dispute between Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The expert members, …
IN VALLAKADAVU of Idukki district in Kerala, P Rajamani, 52, lives in fear. The Mullaperiyar dam looms just seven km away, and Rajamani believes it will not be too long before it bursts upon his village and his home. Through hunger strikes, hartals and protests, thousands have been declaring that …
Himanshu Thakkar is coordinator of the South Asia Network on dams, Rivers & People, edits a magazine dams, Rivers & People and has been working on waterrelated issues for more than two decades. In a candid chat with Baba Umar, Thakkar explains why Kerala has every right to built a …
Pleas for divine intervention sound ludicrous when mouthed by technical experts appearing on television debates. But to the horror of viewers, experts on the Mullaperiyar dam are often urging them to pray as there is no other recourse. In cyberspace and in the real world, Keralites are voicing worries that …
When was the Mullaperiyar Dam constructed? On October 29, 1886, a lease indenture for 999 years was made between the Maharaja of Travancore and the secretary of state for India for construction of the Mullaperiyar Dam over the headwaters of the Periyar River in Kerala. The dam was constructed during …
CHENNAI: Assuring that the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam was safe, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today appealed to the people of Kerala not to succumb "to the mechanisations of ill-wishers and unscrupulous mischief mongers". She also urged the political class of Tamil Nadu to desist from making inflammatory speeches that could …
Ahead of a crucial meeting of an Empowered Committee here on December 5, Kerala has filed an application before the panel, reiterating its demand for the construction of a new dam and arguing that “it is a bona fide proposal.” The committee is headed by the former Chief Justice of …
