Dam 999 & Water Politics!!!!

We are all aware that the movie Dam 999 caused a lot of fuss and the screening was banned by the Tamil Nadu government. One thing the world can learn from Indians. Thats the way of doing politics. No power on this planet can ever top Indians in politicizing things for their personal gain. The politicians especially in TN talk a lot about Mullaiperiyar Dam but i doubt if they really knew what they were talking.
We all should understand the fact that the Mullaiperiyar Dam is located well inside Kerala state but is operated by the TN Govt. What an irony??!!!! Isn't it??!!!! Yes, way back in 1890's the British forced the then King of Travancore to sign a lease contract allowing the Govt of Madras Province to construct and maintain a dam at the site for a period of 999 years. We all should understand the fact that all the agreements signed by the British were declared null and void once India attained her Independence. But then a questions arises why TN still allowed to own and operate the Dam. I'll come to it later. Before that a few facts. Periyar is a west flowing river and the Dam is located at the confluence of Periyar and Mullaiyar, Periyar's tributary and hence the name Mullaiperiyar Dam. Water is diverted eastwards from the Dam through tunnels and join the Vaigai river is TN and provides water to Madurai, Theni, Ramanathapuram, SIvagangai districts in TN. Theres a hydel power plant also which provides power to TN. TN in turn pays for using the land to construct the dam and sur charge for the power generated. Though, officially the lease expired in 1947, both the states resigned the lease agreement in 1970 and it expired in 2000 but TN still continues to use the Dam. One should also remember that the catchment areas of the river include Idukki, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Alappuzha and Trissur with a population of more than a million. Now the TN govt in proposing to increase the capacity by 6ft to 142ft from the current 136ft. The full capacity of the dam is 152ft. Initially Kerala govt agreed to 142ft but safety concerns were raised after a minor earth quake damaged the dam a bit with cracks visibly seen. So the storage was reduced to 136ft. After repair works by TN govt and approval from Supreme Court, TN proposed to increase the storage back to 142ft but the Kerala govt opposed to this citing safety of people down stream. One should understand the fact that a report says that the Dam would not withstand an earthquake of 6 in Richter Scale.
We all should remember that the Kerala govt is not against giving water to TN. We can still come to a solution acceptable by both the states. We should try to address the concerns of both the states. The Central Govt should play the role of mediator and help the states arrive an a amicable solution. I don't want to suggest any solutions as it may affect the sentiments of people living in these states. But two things we should consider before coming to a conclution- lives of millions of people living downstream and lives of millions of farmers and their families living in the arid districts of TN and to whom the waters from this river acts as a lifeline.
I would like to quote the letters of the English magazine, Frontline which says, "For every argument raised by Tamil Nadu in support of its claims, there is counter-argument in Kerala that appears equally plausible. Yet, each time the controversy gets embroiled in extraneous issues, two things stand out: One is Kerala's refusal to acknowledge the genuine need of the farmers in the otherwise drought-prone regions of Tamil Nadu for the waters of the Mullaperiyar; the other is Tamil Nadu's refusal to see that it cannot rely on or continue to expect more and more from the resources of an other State to satisfy its own requirements to the detriment of the other State. A solution perhaps lies in acknowledging the two truths, but neither government can afford the political repercussions of such a confession".

Cross Roads!!!!!

The people of Tamil Nadu woke up to a shocker two days ago. Yes!!! The state government increased the prices of essential commodities such as milk, transportation and has proposed to increase the electricity rates. The price of state owned aavin milk was raised to 24/litre from 17.5/litre and bus fares also saw a steep increase. Now, the Govt plans to increase the electricity charges by more than 10%. So if your current bill was 100 be ready to pay 210 next month. Just when people were breathing a bit easier with the petrol prices coming down by 2.22, the state government announced the increment. But one should understand that all these 3 state owned entities were at huge loss. AAVIN was getting regular funding from the govt to meet its monthly expenses. TNEB was incurring a loss of INR 9600cr in the financial year 2010-11. State Transport Corporation was also incurring huge losses to the tune of INR 2200cr. The state government with very less funding from the central government had no other alternative but to increase the prices. But then people have been made to pay a heavy price for the actions of the govt that too at a time when the inflation is very high (above 9%). The reason state govt gave for increasing the prices was it had no money to continue their welfare schemes such as free mixie, grinder etc. Instead the AIADMK govt should have scrapped giving away freebies and diverted that money to bail these companies out. Let me tell you a little more about these three entities. TNEB in one of the most inefficiently managed companies. Recently it was divided into 3 entities viz TNEB, Tamil Nadu Transmission Corporation and Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation. The losses and assets were divided equally among the three entities. TNEB proposed to issue bonds for INR 1400cr but that has never proceeded to step II. TNEB had to buy power from near by states and from the national grid at a higher cost and this added to its woes. The losses kept on mounting and reached a whopping INR 9500cr last year. Its said that TNEB didnot pay the Windmill owners of TN due to lack of money. Also no concrete steps were taken by the previous DMK govt to increase production. The proposed Ultra Mega Power Project (>4000MW) at Cheyyar never took shape. The proposed addition of (~800 to 1000MW) at North Madras Thermal Power Plant has been delayed by an year. One should only thank the rain gods for giving us a good amount of rain this year and this has helped get additional power from our hydel power projects. And we all know the recent developments at KKNPP. God knows when we'll get that 900MW. All these has pushed TNEB to the current state. Second in the list of ill managed companies is the State Transport Corporation. The increase in bus fares were long over due. The fares were last revised in 2001 by the then AIADMK govt. Things have changed in the last 10 years. The petrol prices alone have reached 70 from 35-40/litre 10 years ago. If the previous govt had acted a little responsible by periodically increase the bus fares say atleast in smalls steps, people wouldnt have experienced such a steep raise. Govt should have rationalised the routes. Many buses ply empty or with half the capacity and certain buses serve twice the amount of people its intended to carry. Introduction of BRTS should help improve efficiency of MTC. Introduction of charted services to companies with spare buses and using the free space such as interior of bus, the read end of the bus for advertising would have helped generate additional income. Advertisements can be put up in bus stops too to generate income. Even the space available on the sides (where MTC is written) can also be used for advertising. Stringent actions should be taken against people who damage the buses and this will help in reducing unnecessary expenditure. The state govt accuses the central of step motherly treatment but the state govt has refused to remind the center that we are indeed its children!!! Instead of such a steep rise, the state govt should have done it in a phased manner so that people dont get affected. AIADMK shouldnt forget the mandate people gave for the same mistake it committed in 2001. Lets hope AMMA realises this and rolls back the increase, if not completely, atleast partially.