Giving Mullaperiyar waters on a platter Wednesday, Dec 21 2011

Dams are not for ever: 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam in Kerala

Kerala is offering waters of Mullaperiyar to Tamil Nadu in a platter. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has reportedly promised Tamil Nadu Minister Paneer Selvam that Kerala Assembly would pass a resolution to grant waters of Mullaperiyar to Tamil Nadu. Kerala has already assured the Centre that it would provide water without even the pre-condition that Tamil Nadu should reduce the water level of existing dam to 120 feet for the safety of people of Kerala.

Since Tamil Nadu is not agreeing to construction of a new dam below the existing Mullaperiyar dam for whatever reasons, it is high time that Kerala abandoned the proposal. Instead, it should insist on gradual lowering of the water level to ensure safety, taking Tamil Nadu’s refusal to accept the new dam proposal as an opportunity. Alternate intake structures could be considered at lower levels, if feasible, to allow Tamil Nadu to draw water at current levels or reduced levels. Eventually, Mullaperiyar dam should be reduced to a diversion structure.  It might be possible for Tamil Nadu to draw water for an indefinite period though that may not be at the current levels.  The engineering aspects of this should be studied in detail and alternative to new dam should be drawn up.

There is no reason why Kerala should continue to accept a ‘primitive’ agreement signed between erstwhile princely State of Travancore and the British. It was, in fact, an annexation of territory of Travancore as the agreement provides for diversion of all waters falling on 8000 acres. It was an international agreement. And it is at odds with current international law that recognises lower riparian rights. It ignored the ecological impact of total diversion of a river into another basin (Vaigai basin of Tamil Nadu) as those who signed the agreement were never aware of such an impact. The government should realise the eventual need to decommission several dams in Idukki district towards eco-restoration.

Hundreds of dams have been decommissioned in the United States and are not being rebuilt. Similar trend is happening in Europe also. Kerala need not try to buck the trend by building a new dam to replace the 116-year-old dam.

Related link:  Any dam has a life

Save Mullaperiyar, Save Kerala

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Kerala government don’t want to win the Mullaperiyar case! Saturday, Dec 10 2011

Poster announcing fast by S. Rajedran MLA at Vandiperiyar in Idukki district seeking resolution of the Mullaperiyar issue. The poster is in Tamil because a substantial part of population in and around Vandiperiyar is Tamil

Kerala government does not want to win the case filed by Tamil Nadu challenging the State’s dam safety legislation before the Supreme Court! This argument may appear strange; but that is what many in government wish.

If the Supreme Court upholds the legislation – the Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation (Amendment) Act, then the State will have all the powers to reduce the water level of Mullaperiyar reservoir, dismantle it or replace it with a new dam.  Politicians and officials here are acutely aware of the difficulties in using the power they will get in case of a favourable verdict from the Supreme Court, against the background of emotional opposition from Tamil Nadu.

This is why Water Resources Minister P. J. Joseph is calling for speedy enactment of Dam Safety Bill proposed by the Centre. (The Centre has drawn up a Bill for this, but it has not been introduced in Parliament). If a Central Act is passed, it will supersede the State legislation (which is what Tamil Nadu also wants.  However, it has its own objections to the provisions of the the proposed Central legislation). When that happens, the State will lose all its powers to ensure safety of dams in the State. When the Centre enforces the Act, things are not likely to work in favaour of Kerala. (Note the reluctance of Centre to Act against Tamil Nadu, even to insist on its officials and Chief Minister to attend talks with Kerala). Many issues may also get close attention of proposed Central Dam Safety Authority.  However, Mr. Joseph is willing to sacrifice power, if Kerala government and the State  Dam Safety Authority could escape from a tedious task of taking control of a dam in its territory.

It is notable that the Authority had not even moved a finger to ensure safety of any dam in the State though it was established five years ago.  The Supreme Court has ordered status quo regarding water level in the Mullaperiyar dam, but no other powers of the Authority has been curtailed by the Supreme Court. It has not stayed any of the clauses of the Act. So, there is nothing that prevents the State Authority from issuing orders to the custodian of the dam (Tamil Nadu)  to take precautionary steps. (The dam falls within in its jurisdiction.)

For example, it could have ordered that all the seepage from Mullaperiyar should be collected and measured. As all the seepage is not getting collected in the galleries (which exist only on the concrete back up provided by Tamil Nadu as part of the strengthening measures),  it is necessary to have structures downstream to catch all the seepage. Seepage can give an indication of damage to the dam, especially from tremours if compared with earlier volumes.

Another direction that the Authority could have given is regarding increasing of the efficiency of existing spillways  for achieving marginally better safety from floods. A technical committee had recommended as back as in the nineties that the earth behind the spillways should be removed and a slope should be ensured to enable speedy discharge of water. It was only this year that the State government intervened and removed the earth and debris dumped behind the spillways. However, no slope is being ensured. The State government acted only after the water level rose to 136 feet. So, the bulldozers are now working practically in water.

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Abject Failure of Kerala government on Mullaperiyar front Saturday, Dec 3 2011

Vandiperiyar town of Idukki district which will be washed away in case of failure of Mullaperiyar dam

The developments on the Mullaperiyar front points to abject failure of the State and Central governments. The Central government could not even make the Tamil Nadu officials to come to Delhi.  Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa refused even to take the telephone call from Prime Minister. This is the cost the Centre government is paying for yielding to political blackmail of Tamil Nadu politicians in the past. Now that Karunanidhi is antagonised over CBI enquires against his party leaders, the Centre could not afford to say a hard word against Jayalalithaa.

The Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s Delhi mission was a total failure against this background despite the supported reportedly given by Defence Minister A. K. Antony. Though he put a brave face, he dispatched Water Resources Minister P. J. Joseph to examine the possibility of approaching the Supreme Court.  Mr. Joseph had earlier returned after giving an undertaking to the Centre that Kerala would ask for any share in waters of Mullaperiyar. (Tamil Nadu thus got an undertaking without even moving a finger. Kerala should have assured water to Tamil Nadu only after dragging it to the negotiation table.)

This was a case that Kerala could have won in the first instance in the Supreme Court. All it needed to have done was to invoke the precautionary principle and present the risk profile with support of studies and dam break analysis and inundation studies.  However, despite it getting more than a decade, the government has only ordered the study.

The consequence was that the Supreme Court in the first case concurred with the argument of Tamil Nadu that water from Mullaperiyar would be contained in the Idukki reservoir in case of failure of Mullaperiyar dam. This argument was not only technically incorrect, but also ignored the impact on the populated area between Mullaperiyar and Idukki. About 75000 people live there, but Kerala had failed to point that out to the Court.

The Government is against failing to state facts before the High Court. The Advocate General made amateurish observations on water level, safety and media coverage when the whole State is seized of the matter. It points to lack of coordination and ineptness of various departments. The Advocate General was making remarks on the basis of shallow observations by the Revenue and Disaster Management Department.  There was neither a collective approach nor organised presentation of case. This is why the Advocate General was refusing to heed the demand for his resignation. He did not divert much from what the government had presented before him.  This would be confirmed if the government fails to oust him. No client will keep a counsel if he had made observations against his brief.

A dam failure will not follow the mathematics of TN, the Advocate General or the Supreme Court. It will be catastrophic.  The dam completely gives way; it will be a column of water, more than 100 feet high, that will be flowing down.  Even when it reached Idukki reservoir, it will be more than 15 feet high. The torrent will bring down a lot of rocks and earth and will silt up the reservoir, raising the possibility of overtopping of the dam even when the water level of Idukki reservoir is low. Moreover floating trunks of trees and debris would hit the dams of Idukki with possibility of damage to the dram structure and spillways. So, Idukki would be at risk whatever the time of collapse of Mullaperiyar dam be.  If it is in summer, the scale of disaster would be lower, but it would make no difference for those on the path of the flow of water.

The authorities are actually misleading people by talking of plans to evacuate 450 families. This is a plan for evacuating people in case of an overflow of up to six feet through the spillways of Mullaperiyar dam. If one is to take precautions against a dam failure, about 2500 people would have to be evacuated from Vallakkadavu alone. The magnitude of disaster management in case of dam failure is something beyond the capabilities of the State government.

Related links:

Mullaperiyar– in search of truth (about precautionary principle)

Dam Safety: Mullaperiyar and its implications

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Bribing Idinthikarai– Dr. Kalam’s action plan for Kudankulam nuclear project Thursday, Nov 10 2011

The Koodamkulam town with sizable population is within 1 km from outer walls of the nuclear complex

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam’s 10-point plan for development of Kudankulam and neighbouring areas is nothing short of an attempt to bribe the people who are on fast against the Kudankulam nuclear power project at Idinthikarai in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu.

The proposal raises several questions.  Are developmental projects a substitute for safety?  What Mr. Kalam says is that the people of the Kanyakumari and neighbouring districts should accept local development so that the rich and the urbanites elsewhere can have the power from Kudankulam. The sacrifice that is being demanded is something that could affect generations of their offspring.

No nuclear plant has a history of not causing radiation exposure to at least some people in and around the plant. And we know that no human made structure and machinery including Dr. Kalam’s rockets carrying deadly missiles is immune to malfunctions, failures or accidents whatever be the technology employed.  Dr. Kalam knows that well. That is why he is talking about courage like army commanders who always know that a certain percentage of his soldiers sent to the battlefield would never return.  Better technology would only reduce chances of an accident and would not eliminate it. So, the question boils down to what is the acceptable level of risk.

Thousands would die and large areas of Kanyakumari and neighbouring districts would be devastated if a meltdown occurs at the nuclear plant. Thousands of acres of fertile land would remain uninhabitable for many years. There are still no accurate figures of long term casualties from the Chernobyl disaster. But we know that it would run into lakhs. That is too much of risk for just 2000 MW of power.

Related post:

Nuclear liability bill will get you a compensation of Rs. 1000

Also see:

http://tshivajirao.blogspot.com/2011/09/why-indian-nuclear-plants-are-bound-to.html 

http://tshivajirao.blogspot.com/2011/10/why-nuclear-accidents-are-difficult-to.html

http://tshivajirao.blogspot.com/2011/10/kudankulam-nuclear-plant-explosion.html 

New Book Concludes – Chernobyl death toll: 985,000, mostly from cancer

Kundankulam anti-nuclear movement

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Assembly: much ado about nothing Wednesday, Nov 2 2011

KP Mohan attempting to jump over the desk as Opposition stages sit in in the well of Kerala Assembly

The happenings during the Kerala Assembly session that concludes this week did not raise the prestige of the House a bit, but diminished it considerably. KeralaViews does not propose to detail the happenings as they have been widely reported in the media.

The Opposition overdid the show to the advantage of the ruling United Democratic Front. The ruling Front would have concluded the session with some credit, but for the behavior of Agriculture Minister K. P.  Mohanan and UDF Chief Whip P. C. George. The self-goals by K. B. Ganesh Kumar and George outside the Assembly followed.

The penchant for exaggeration among politicians is understandable. Sometimes, it may even be good for rhetoric. However, use unparliamentarily words are not even expected of policemen.

What they don’t realise is that though their rhetoric may seem to yield some immediate gains; it is decent parliamentarianism that would decorate the annals of legislative history.

Minister for Water Resources T. M. Jacob, who died on Sunday, would be remembered just for that.  He was a legislator who studied the bills and issues and presented his points with notable legal comprehension. He had a few records too to his credit regarding performance in the Assembly. May his soul RIP.

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Rice at Re. 1: reminder of a colossal failure Tuesday, Aug 30 2011

The Poverty –Free Kerala Scheme, inaugurated by Defence Minister A. K. Antony, in Kerala, is touted at as an achievement of the ruling Front in Kerala. But, it actually points to colossal failure of successive governments to eliminate poverty in the State and the country.

The Congress has ruled the country for more than 50 years. It has also come to power intermittently in the State. The Scheme aims to supply rice at one rupee a kg to 21 lakh families in the State. Later, according to the latest BPL survey, the number of beneficiaries is to rise to more than 31 lakh families. This comes to nearly half of the families in Kerala. (There are about 74 lakh families holding ration cards in the State.)

 If these figures are taken at its face value, it means that half of the population is incapable of buying even rice at market price so that the government would have to supply it at a heavily subsidised price of Re. 1. With the market price of rice hovering over Rs. 25 a kg, the subsidy is more than 95 per cent.

As we shall see later, this figure of 31 lakh is an inflated number. The actual number of families living below the poverty line (BPL) and hence eligible for the subsidised rice is less than 20 lakh. Still, it is a big figure pointing to the failure of governance in independent India during the past 65 years.  

There is little doubt that the rest of India has more poor than in Kerala. The Central government has proposed a scheme covering all the people living below the poverty line in the country. However, the price of rice will be Rs. 3 a kg. It is this rice that the State government proposes to supply to the BPL families in future adding its own subsidy of Rs. 2 a kg. (The Centre recognises only 21 lakh families as living below the poverty line in the State.)

Why was the State providing such a subsidy when the level of poverty is lower in the State compared to most other parts of India? The answer is simply competitive politics.

When the Left Democratic Front proposed to supply rice at Rs. 2 a kg, the United Democratic Front wanted to lower it further to the ridiculous level of Re. 1 a kg. In the same vein, the fronts have added several categories of people living above the poverty line to the list of beneficiaries of subsidised rations.  As the Centre supplies rice low prices only for the BPL families recognised by it, the State has to find more funds to subsidise rice for the APL families. In the process, it spends a larger sum from the exchequer for the APL families than for the BPL families.

It is also known that much of the rations (35 kg a month for BPL families) do not reach the beneficiaries. The off take is never 100 per cent and ration dealers often cheat the beneficiaries regarding weight. There are also many bogus ration cards and the dealers often manage to divert a substantial portion of the ration rice. So, the real beneficiaries of the scheme are the ration dealers and the middle class living above the poverty line.

The number of applications for new ration cards had spurted following announcement of the scheme. The government knows well that many of the applications were bogus. Yet it issued the cards and claimed that the Food and Civil Supplies Department had issued a record number of four or five lakh ration cards in less than three months!

It will, however, be wrong to conclude without saying that there are many people in the country who would not survive without subsidised food grains. Neo-liberal policies have marginalised many farmers and workers and deprived many of them of their livelihood. Hence, it had become imperative that the State support them. Development had never been all-inclusive.

India is seeing a small section of the people becoming rich quicker and a larger portion of the population surviving on subsidised rations. Perhaps, it is wise to throw the safety net wider so as not to miss any deserving person when the rich can afford to pay their taxes.

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Neutralising Lokpal legislation: attempt begins in Kerala Sunday, Jul 3 2011

Balakrishna Pillai, who was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for corruption

While the civil society is pressing for the Lokpal Bill to check corruption, the Kerala government is finding an innovative method to free corrupt politicians from jail through the backdoor.

The plan is to free R. Balakrishnan Pillai, Kerala Congress (B) leader condemned for corruption, from jail on the ground that he is past 70 years of age. To appear to be fair, the government also plans to release other prisoners who are past 70 from jail. The implications can be far-reaching as this becomes a precedent for future releases. Even now, murderers need to be in jail only for 10 years get a release. In future, a murderer can immediately be out of jail if he is past 70 by the time he is sentenced.  We know that convictions can be delayed by several years in our system.  So, if you are past 65, you can murder anybody with immunity.

In the case of politicians, most of the Ministers and leaders heading government agencies would not have to fear anti-corruption law, whether it is Lokpal or any other law. Many of them become ministers or occupy important posts past 50 years of age.  Going by the experience of investigation and trial of the palmolein case, we know that it is not difficult to delay verdicts on corruption cases by two decades.

Though there had been many allegations of corruption against politicians in the State, Balakrishna Pillai is the only person who could be convicted. Now, even he would be out of jail. Thus, politicians would have to fear no law unless he is too young like P. K. Jayalekshmi (Minister for Tribal Affairs who is less 30 years of age)! Almost all the politicians, who are facing corruption charges in Oommen Chandy’s ministry and past ministries could escape jail, if convicted.

No need to add that the Government move will seriously undermine the rule of the law in the State.

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Moolampilly: Is it a deal? Friday, Jun 24 2011

Revenue Minister signing the agreement with Moolampilly evictees

The new Kerala Government led by Oommen Chandy has quickly concluded a deal for evictees from Moolampilly and disbursed the compensation. (The eviction was for the Vallarpadam Container Terminal)

However, the real beneficiaries of the deal could be big traders and politicians who would have to be evicted for Kochi Metro Rail and other projects.

One thing that Mr. Chandy had accepted without any argument during the negotiations is that the compensation should be tax free.  Well, even before the matter was settled, the Principal Secretary (Revenue) had written to the Centre urging that the compensation should be exempted from capital gains tax under the Income Tax Act.

One thing that the government had not clarified is whether this would be a concession for the Moolampilly evictees alone. Apparently, it is not.  It becomes a precedent and benefit would be available to future evictees also.  It is not yet clear whether the Central Board of Direct Taxes or Finance Ministry would allow a specific exemption or a general exemption applicable to all evictees.

If it is going to be general, the first beneficiaries would be the politicians and other bigwigs who purchase land with prior knowledge of the development project to be drawn up by the government for the area. Such purchases have become common as it is usually the politicians who get the first winds of development proposals. When capital appreciation occurs, it is such buyers who would have to pay hefty sums for capital appreciation.

The poor people like that of Moolampilly, who had been holding their land for years, would not have to pay much in terms of capital gains— they can discount their earnings against cost of inflation index. Moreover, they would have no liability if they are purchasing property elsewhere using the amount. On the other hand, those diverting the money for non-capital expenditure would have to pay the tax. So, why did government want to fast-track this exemption?

Note that several of our representatives in Assembly have not been filing income tax returns.  If the IT Department detects large scale payments upon land acquisition, we know what could be the problem.  In places like Kochi, owners who have to surrender land for the Metro project could save millions in tax, as land prices in these areas were going up like anything.  And the government is promising market value for the land!

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