Mullaperiyar: Minister promises to build new dam in 2 years

, Jun 8: If the state and the

allows, the

government will build the new dam in two years, said PJ Joseph, Minister for Water Resources, in Kochi on Thursday referring to the Mullaperiyar dam.

He further said that the committee report submitted by the expert panel says that the construction of a new dam would take 10 years, but he promised that the state would construct the same in 2 years.

"The committee report says that it would take at least 10 years for the state to build a new dam, but I promise we can finish it in two years," said the minister.

The comments came at a meeting held in Kochi to discuss on the Supreme Court's report on the Mullaperiyar dam's safety.

According to the minister, the use of Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) technology to construct a new dam will take only two-thirds of the estimated budget. "The Supreme Court's direction to Kerala and Tamil Nadu was to nominate a member each to the committee to project the respective state's arguments. Tamil Nadu's nominee, Justice Justice AR Laxmanan stood by his state's arguments, but our nominee did not," said Joseph.

OneIndia News