A day after the Kerala Cabinet delegation returned from Delhi without any tangible assurance from the Centre on the Mullaperiyar issue,the state government on Wednesday initiated steps to cushion the impact if the water bomb goes off. After a meeting of the Cabinet,Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the storage level at Idukki reservoir would be brought down immediately to make space for water from the Mullaperiyar dam. Idukki dam is located downstream of the Mullaperiyar dam. Chandy said power generation at Idukki would be enhanced to maximum capacity to reduce the water level. Normally,the water in Idukki reservoir is stored for power generation during summer when other minor reservoirs reach dead storage level. By exhausting the Idukki water,the state may face power shortage during the summer season. But there is no option but to empty the Idukki dam to safeguard the lives of people, said Chandy. The Chief Minister said he would meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Capital on Friday to inform him of the states demand for a new dam and reducing the Mullaperiyar water level. But government sources said it would be difficult to get Tamil Nadu to agree to reduce the storage level. In a related development,the government informed the Kerala High Court about its readiness to reduce the water level at Idukki. The court told the government to submit a protocol of disaster management and a plan in this regard on Friday.The State Irrigation Department has inked a deal with IIT-Roorkee for a dam wreckage analysis to enable the government to finalise its crisis management plan. The study would look at the possible quantum of damage the dam wreckage would cause and suggest safety measures and precautions. It would also calculate the possible time required for water from Mullaperiyar to reach Idukki. Meanwhile,senior CPI(M) leader V S Achuthanandan announced Wednesday that he would observe a one-day fast at Mullaperiyar on December 7 to mobilise public opinion in favour of Keralas demand for a new dam.
