Kerala floods blame game between Kerala and Tamil Nadu? Or is there some truth to Kerala's allegations?
T.N.’s sudden release of water from Mullaperiyar caused floods, Kerala tells Supreme Court, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/tns-sudden-release-of-water-from-mullaperiyar-caused-floods-kerala-tells-supreme-court/article24762987.ece, 23rd Aug. 2018, updated 24th Aug. 2018
The article says that a top officer of Kerala government told the Supreme court that Kerala's water management related officials had requested Tamil Nadu Mullaperiyar dam water to be released gradually.
The Kerala top officer told the Supreme Court, "The request was made to facilitate the district administration and State Disaster Management Authority to get sufficient time to evacuate people so that they would not be hit by the flash floods in their sleep in the stealth of the night".
But (according to Kerala officer(s)) Mullaperiyar dam water was “suddenly discharged by opening all the 13 shutters to Idukki downstream at 2.40 a.m. on August 15. Around 9,000 cusecs of water was let out between 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 21,450 cusecs at 2 p.m. on August 15.”
..
“The sudden releases from the Mullaperiyar dam forced us (Kerala) to release more water from the Idukki reservoir”.
Kerala govt. said that till that sudden release of large amount of water from Mullaperiyar dam, Kerala govt. had the flood waters situation in Kerala under some control.
The Kerala officer also said that this flood was the greatest flood to hit Kerala since the Great Flood of 1924.
-----
Note that the Great Flood of 1924 seems to be referred to in Malayalam (language of Kerala) as Great Flood of 99 as 1924 in the Gregorian calendar which we use, corresponds to 1099 in the Malayalam Calendar (used then in Kerala, I presume). From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_flood_of_99 :
The Great flood of '99 occurred when the Periyar River in Kerala state of India flooded in the month of July, 1924. This is the year 1099 ME in the Malayalam Calendar (Kollam Era). As the Malayalam Calendar was popular in Kerala, this flood is generally called ‘Thonnootti Onpathile Vellapokkam’ (flood of 99).The rain continued for about three weeks. Many districts of the present day Kerala were deeply submerged in water by this flood - From Trichur, to Ernakulam to Idukki, Kottayam even up to Alappuzha and Kuttanad. Even a huge mountain called Karinthiri Mala was washed away by this flood and the road to Munnar also went along with it. As the road to Munnar was lost by this flood, a new road from Ernakulam to Munnar became necessary - the present day road from Ernakulam to Munnar was constructed after this. Kundala Valley Railway which was the first monorail system in India was also completely destroyed.
--- end wiki extract ---
Ravi: I think we should know the truth of the matter. Let us hope the Supreme Court of India bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra which is hearing the case, will ensure that the truth in this matter is brought out and shared with the Indian public. If Mullaperiyar dam water release was the key factor leading to Kerala losing control over the flood waters management then this truth being shared publicly will help to avoid future such disasters through creation of appropriate safeguards like lower level of dam water reserve enabling more controlled release of excess dam water.
[I thank wikipedia and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extract from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever. I similarly thank thehindu.com for references I have made to their article.]
The article says that a top officer of Kerala government told the Supreme court that Kerala's water management related officials had requested Tamil Nadu Mullaperiyar dam water to be released gradually.
The Kerala top officer told the Supreme Court, "The request was made to facilitate the district administration and State Disaster Management Authority to get sufficient time to evacuate people so that they would not be hit by the flash floods in their sleep in the stealth of the night".
But (according to Kerala officer(s)) Mullaperiyar dam water was “suddenly discharged by opening all the 13 shutters to Idukki downstream at 2.40 a.m. on August 15. Around 9,000 cusecs of water was let out between 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 21,450 cusecs at 2 p.m. on August 15.”
..
“The sudden releases from the Mullaperiyar dam forced us (Kerala) to release more water from the Idukki reservoir”.
Kerala govt. said that till that sudden release of large amount of water from Mullaperiyar dam, Kerala govt. had the flood waters situation in Kerala under some control.
The Kerala officer also said that this flood was the greatest flood to hit Kerala since the Great Flood of 1924.
-----
Note that the Great Flood of 1924 seems to be referred to in Malayalam (language of Kerala) as Great Flood of 99 as 1924 in the Gregorian calendar which we use, corresponds to 1099 in the Malayalam Calendar (used then in Kerala, I presume). From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_flood_of_99 :
The Great flood of '99 occurred when the Periyar River in Kerala state of India flooded in the month of July, 1924. This is the year 1099 ME in the Malayalam Calendar (Kollam Era). As the Malayalam Calendar was popular in Kerala, this flood is generally called ‘Thonnootti Onpathile Vellapokkam’ (flood of 99).The rain continued for about three weeks. Many districts of the present day Kerala were deeply submerged in water by this flood - From Trichur, to Ernakulam to Idukki, Kottayam even up to Alappuzha and Kuttanad. Even a huge mountain called Karinthiri Mala was washed away by this flood and the road to Munnar also went along with it. As the road to Munnar was lost by this flood, a new road from Ernakulam to Munnar became necessary - the present day road from Ernakulam to Munnar was constructed after this. Kundala Valley Railway which was the first monorail system in India was also completely destroyed.
--- end wiki extract ---
Ravi: I think we should know the truth of the matter. Let us hope the Supreme Court of India bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra which is hearing the case, will ensure that the truth in this matter is brought out and shared with the Indian public. If Mullaperiyar dam water release was the key factor leading to Kerala losing control over the flood waters management then this truth being shared publicly will help to avoid future such disasters through creation of appropriate safeguards like lower level of dam water reserve enabling more controlled release of excess dam water.
[I thank wikipedia and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extract from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever. I similarly thank thehindu.com for references I have made to their article.]
Comments
Post a Comment