The Mullaperiyar dam on the Periyar river is located in the Thekkady district in Kerala
A dam which is at the heart of a serious and long-standing dispute between Kerala and Tamil Nadu is vulnerable to a serious terror threat and should be guarded by central paramilitary forces, the Tamil Nadu government claimed in the Supreme Court today.
Judges have asked Kerala, which currently manages the security for the dam, to respond to the proposal.
The Mullaperiyar dam on the Periyar river is located in the Thekkady district in Kerala but supplies water to the drought-prone areas of Tamil Nadu under a complex lease lasting 999 years.
The tug-of-war over the dam has often resulted in violent protests. Kerala says the dam is old and endangers the millions who live downstream in an area that is prone to tremors. Tamil Nadu is firmly against Kerala's push for the construction of a new dam because it fears it will be forced to accept a smaller supply of water.
Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that the existing dam is not structurally unsafe and agreed with Tamil Nadu's request to increase the water level in the dam to 142 feet with accompanying safety measures.
Despite that victory, Tamil Nadu has said in the Supreme Court that Kerala must be stopped from conducting an assessment of the environmental impact of the new dam. If a new dam is built further down the Periyar river, Tamil Nadu worries that less water will be collected and made available to it, and that Kerala will find a way to wriggle out of the current agreement.