Immediately after the occurrence of the earthquakes in December 2000 and January 2001 in the vicinity of the Mullaperiyar area, the Government of Kerala entrusted a team of scientists and engineers from IISc, Bangalore and CESS, Trivandrum to study the seismic activities in the area and to assess the seismic safety of the old Mullaperiyar dam. They found that the region is susceptible to earthquakes of intensity up to 6.5 in Richter scale. Having studied the structural condition of the old dam in detail, the team recommended that ‘it is not prudent to increase the water level in the Mullaperiyar dam from the existing level of 136 ft, under any circumstances’.
Even though Government of Kerala submitted this report before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India at that time, they did not consider the above report relying on CWC’s submission that the analysis was done without considering site specific seismic parameters of the region. But it is worth noting that before reaching the conclusion that the dam is safe for earthquake forces, neither the CWC nor the Expert Committee considered the site specific seismic parameters applicable to Mullaperiyar region for finding out the seismic safety of the Mullaperiyar dam.
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