சசியின் டைரி

I always consider my identity to be Tamil—just Tamil. No further nationality is required for me. But even more than that, I primarily consider myself a human. I love Mother Earth. I want to protect my environment and the Earth from ruthless exploitation, which results in global warming and climate change. That's why I oppose the nuclear power plant in Kudankulam. Not only do I oppose it in Kudankulam, but I would also oppose nuclear power plants in Jaitapur or in any part of the world. However, Kudankulam being in Tamil Nadu gives me more vigor to oppose it, as Tamil Nadu is my own land.

While I oppose nuclear power plants for environmental reasons, I also oppose the construction of dams. I am an environmentalist, and I must oppose dams because they are dangerous to the environment. Dams are unnatural structures that disturb the natural river ecosystem. I am against dams of any kind—whether new or old, dams are bad. Dams were created not just for storing water for irrigation; that's only a starting point. Human greed takes it further, to generate hydroelectricity, to draw water for industrialization, and so on. In the process, dams pose a threat to the environment.

Kerala says it will demolish the old dam and construct a new one. How will a new dam save Kerala? It will also have to face earthquakes; it can crack in an earthquake. In fact, many scientists believe that "dams create earthquakes." The huge amount of water stored in reservoirs is the cause of many earthquakes. So Kerala's theory that a new dam will save it is as theatrical as saying the old dam will fail in an earthquake. Both new and old dams are vulnerable in the event of an earthquake. Furthermore, there is scientific proof linking dams as a cause of earthquakes.

Let me quote a scientific theory here, from International Rivers' factsheet "A Faultline Runs Through It: Exposing the Hidden Dangers of Dam-Induced Earthquakes":

"Earthquakes can be induced by dams. Globally, there are over 100 identified cases of earthquakes that scientists believe were triggered by reservoirs. The most serious case may be the 7.9-magnitude Sichuan earthquake in May 2008, which killed an estimated 80,000 people and has been linked to the construction of the Zipingpu Dam."

If Kerala's claim that Mullai Periyaru Dam is in a seismic zone holds true, it also holds for the new dam it plans to build to replace Mullai Periyaru. As the nature of earthquakes is unpredictable, so is the stability of dams, even if they are constructed with ultra-modern technology. There is no 100% safety for either new dams or old dams.

So, what's the aim of Kerala? What is the ultimate motive behind this massive PR campaign of Kerala and Malayalees?

As much as the Kudankulam issue tries to give power to business elites, Kerala's cry about dam safety has more to do with electricity and economic reasons than safety. Kerala's PR machine does not oppose dams in total; it selectively opposes only Mullai Periyaru Dam, which is under the control of Tamil Nadu. It does not oppose the Idukki Reservoir, which gives electricity to Kerala. If dams are as totally bad as "Dam 999" says, why would they want to construct a new dam? Shouldn't they get rid of all dams in Kerala (like the Elwha Dam removal in the USA)?

The whole issue comes down to the perception in Kerala that Tamil Nadu pays less tax on the water and electricity it produces from the Mullai Periyaru Dam, and that Kerala could not meet its state demand for electricity from its Idukki Reservoir. If Kerala needs to reprice the taxes that Tamil Nadu pays, it is only reasonable for it to come out openly and ask for new taxes based on current inflation. But Kerala indulges in fear-mongering to achieve multiple purposes.

Constructing a new dam will hit multiple mangoes with one stone for Kerala:

• The lease of the land to Tamil Nadu for 999 years will expire automatically with the construction of the new dam.
• Tamil Nadu will lose its rights over the land to draw water and generate electricity.
• Kerala can use the new dam to generate electricity to meet its state demand.

Power and economy are the primary motives behind Kerala's fear-mongering PR drive. In this PR campaign, Kerala unleashes many fictional stories, such as its claim that the agreement of 1886 to give Tamil Nadu the rights for 999 years was not a fair deal and was thrust on it by the erstwhile British Presidency of Madras on the princely state of Travancore. Kerala's fiction is that the mighty British Empire forced the agreement on the small princely state of Travancore. However, in 1970, Kerala's government under Chief Minister C. Achutha Menon and the Tamil Nadu government signed a formal agreement to renew the 1886 treaty almost completely. In independent India, when Tamil Nadu lost lands such as Devikulam and Peermade to Kerala, it can only be called fictional to say the agreement was forced on Kerala.

Maybe in 1970, Kerala's politicians did not foresee the power challenges of a modern world. Since 1970, the demand for electricity has grown in Kerala, and it needs Mullai Periyaru to meet that demand. So, a new dam is a clever ploy to push out Tamil Nadu and take full control of the Mullai Periyaru Dam.

Kerala's well-oiled PR machine uses sleight-of-hand tactics to hide the actual reason and to fabricate Mullai Periyaru into a safety issue. Kerala claims that it is ready to bear the cost of constructing a new dam and is magnanimous enough to provide water to Tamil Nadu. It portrays itself as if it were concerned only about the safety of the people. But the actual fact is that the day Kerala starts construction of the new dam, Tamil Nadu loses all its rights, as the old lease agreement will expire automatically. It is a well-calculated game plan by Kerala. After all, Malayalee IAS, IPS, and IFS officers run much of India, so they know better lobbying than slogan-shouting Tamils.

Kerala is a water-surplus state. Kerala is not dependent on agriculture and does not grow crops such as paddy in its river basin. Kerala imports most of its food products from Tamil Nadu. So, water is not the problem here. It is, again, power politics—the politics of money and power—at play here. The same power issue that haunts Tamils at Kudankulam is haunting us at Mullai Periyaru also.

As I said in this article, dams are always dangerous, and we should avoid them. Let's start a debate on carefully demolishing all the many mindless dams constructed across our rivers. Tamil Nadu, being the downstream state of many rivers, has been a victim of many mindless dams constructed across rivers such as the Cauvery. I am all for demolishing such dams in a systematic fashion, like the Elwha Dam removal in the USA. Let's carefully demolish all dams across the Cauvery. Let nature run its own course, whether it is the Cauvery or the Periyaru river.

Tamils have been reduced to a slogan-shouting, Tamil-jingoistic herd. Look at the Malayalees, who have unleashed their PR machines in a much more sophisticated pattern—from Hollywood movies to the Save Mullaperiyar campaign on Facebook, their campaign is a well-oiled PR machine.

Tamils need a better PR machine to expose Kerala's political games. Let's bring out these facts rather than just slogan-shouting Tamil jingoism.

Let's think about how we can do it.

Editor's note: The reference above to the Elwha Dam removal in the USA shows that large-scale dam removal is achievable, not that the Elwha case is comparable to the Cauvery basin. Elwha was removed for a narrow ecological reason (restoring salmon migration) under U.S. federal legislation and tribal treaty advocacy, not because of interstate water-sharing disputes or irrigation-dependency questions like the ones Tamil Nadu faces with Kerala and Karnataka. That distinction doesn't weaken the argument here — if anything, it strengthens it: Tamil Nadu's case rests on existing water rights and century-old agreements, a stronger footing than "even the Americans removed a dam."

Tags: #MullaiPeriyaru #Mullaperiyar #TamilNaduKerala #CauveryDispute #Mekedatu #TamilNaduKarnataka #DamSafety #TamilNaduWaterRights #IdukkiReservoir #KudankulamNuclearPlant #TamilNationalism #InterstateWaterDispute #SouthIndiaWaterPolitics