Why Vijay govt’s Budget promise to raise Mullaperiyar levels has Kerala fuming
TN Budget promises to raise dam’s water levels; Kerala fears it will raise it beyond SC-permitted level of 142 ft to fulfil TVK’s poll promise of reaching 152 ft
The last time the words "Mullai Periyar" appeared in a Tamil Nadu budget speech was on February 16, 2016, when the late J Jayalalithaa was the chief minister of the state. The then finance minister, O Panneerselvam, in his speech, described raising the dam's storage level to 142 feet as a "towering achievement" of the AIADMK government. It was the first time in a decade that the dam had featured in a budget speech.
Kerala pushes back
More than 10 years later, Mullaperiyar has found its way into the budget speech of the C Joseph Vijay government, once again sparking a political slugfest. Presenting his first Budget speech, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister N Marie Wilson said the Vijay government would pursue raising the water level of the Mullaperiyar dam. The Supreme Court has permitted the water level to be raised to 142 feet. But what worries the Kerala side is not the budget announcement, but the TVK's election promise, made by Vijay himself, that they would go further, to 152 feet.
Also read: Vijay's TVK eyes Kerala, but Mullaperiyar stands in the way
The Kerala government has said it will oppose any move to raise the level beyond what is currently permissible. Chief Minister VD Satheesan and Water Resources Minister Mons Joseph have both spoken out against the proposal. Joseph said he convened an emergency meeting of departmental officials soon after the Tamil Nadu announcement and would formally convey Kerala's protest.
“Under no circumstances will Kerala permit the water level of the Mullaperiyar dam to be raised beyond 142 feet. Kerala does not agree to it, and this remains the firm position of our state. We are passing through a period of heightened concern over the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam,” said Joseph.
Dispute over dam’s safety, control
The minister said Kerala had also approached the Supreme Court seeking a comprehensive safety inspection of the Mullaperiyar dam by the National Dam Safety Authority. "At a time when even the safety inspection and strengthening measures directed by the Supreme Court remain incomplete, it is extremely unfortunate that Tamil Nadu has raised such a demand and made an announcement of this nature," he said.
Also read: Kerala-TN row: Dam Safety Act and resolution of Mullaperiyar issue
Mullaperiyar is not another Cauvery dispute since it is not a fight over how much water each state should get. Kerala does not claim the water for itself. Under a long-standing arrangement, Kerala allows Tamil Nadu to divert the Periyar waters eastward for irrigation. The dispute here is about the safety of an ageing dam, the demand for a new structure, and who controls it. Tamil Nadu, meanwhile, is focused on securing its water and protecting its rights under the existing arrangement.
Concerns over British-era structure
The history of the dam dates back nearly 140 years. In 1886, the erstwhile Travancore kingdom signed a 999-year lease with the British administration for the Periyar Irrigation Project. The dam was built between 1887 and 1895 in what is today Kerala, but its waters were diverted east to the Madras Presidency, present-day Tamil Nadu. The arrangement still holds today – the dam stands in Kerala, but the operational and maintenance control is with the Tamil Nadu government, which draws all the water that is critical for agriculture in its southern districts of the state.
Also read: On World Water Day, a look at India's key inter-state river disputes
Concerns over the dam's structural condition first surfaced in 1979. Strengthening measures were recommended, and the reservoir level was cut from 152 feet to 136 feet; this is when the ongoing dispute originated. As Tamil Nadu pushed to raise the level again and Kerala argued that safety had to come first, the matter reached the Supreme Court, which in 2006 allowed Tamil Nadu to raise the level to 142 feet, subject to strengthening work. Kerala opposed the ruling and passed legislation, capping the level, and Tamil Nadu challenged that law in turn. In 2010, the Court set up an Empowered Committee to examine both the dam's safety and the states' competing claims.
Kerala seeks new dam, TN resists
Earthquake threat and tremors in the region that year deepened public anxiety in Kerala, and the campaign for a new dam gathered pace, with political parties and local groups mobilising. Kerala's demand was for a new dam that would guarantee safety while keeping Tamil Nadu's supply intact.
Tamil Nadu saw it differently, as for the farmers in its southern districts, Mullaperiyar was a lifeline, and there were fears that the push for a new dam could eventually chip away at Tamil Nadu's rights and control. Farmers' groups and political parties mobilised on that side too, and by late 2011 tensions had spilled into border areas, with protests, clashes and sporadic property damage on both sides.
Legal win for TN in 2012
In 2012, the Empowered Committee found the dam structurally and hydrologically safe and backed raising the level to 142 feet after strengthening work. The Supreme Court's 2014 judgment struck down Kerala's 136-feet law and cleared the way for Tamil Nadu to raise the level to 142 feet, with a supervisory mechanism put in place.
It was a clear legal win for Tamil Nadu. But Kerala's unease never went away because its concern was never just about a single number, but about the long-term safety of an ageing dam sitting inside its territory, with a large population living downstream.
Watch | TN-Kerala water feud to reach boiling point? Silandhi, Mullaperiyar issues simmer
The current permissible level remains 142 feet, as set by the Supreme Court. The 152-foot figure comes from the TVK's election manifesto. Wednesday's budget speech signals intent to pursue a higher level, without altering the fact that 142 feet is still the legal ceiling.
Why Kerala sees red in 152 ft
For Kerala, hearing "152 feet" is not simply about water, since it reads as a move to return to the dam's original full reservoir level, well beyond what courts have sanctioned. There is also a control dimension to the dispute. Tamil Nadu has historically operated the dam under the existing lease, and Kerala has to live with its physical presence and the population downstream. That is the basis of Kerala's long-standing demand for a new dam, one that, in its view, could protect Tamil Nadu's water supply while replacing an old structure with a safer one.
Also read: Kerala wants new dam to replace Mullaperiyar for people’s safety
Officials from the two states have been holding talks, and Satheesan on Wednesday (August 5) said he was considering a meeting with his Tamil Nadu counterpart, Chief Minister Vijay, to take the discussions further even as the political temperature rises.
With the TVK's 152-foot manifesto promise now folded into the state's budget agenda, and Kerala having formally registered its protest, an issue that has simmered for decades is once again a live political flashpoint, becoming one likely to resurface with every budget, every water-level demand, and every monsoon.
It should be noted that when the DMK and the CPI(M) were in power in the respective states, the dispute did not come to the fore, as both former chief ministers, MK Stalin and Pinarayi Vijayan, were keen to project their camaraderie and brotherhood. Now, it is the Congress’s turn, which, incidentally, leads the Kerala government and is also part of the government in Tamil Nadu.
