Mullaperiyar: Kerala unhappy over expert tests

KOCHI: Even as the Mullaperiyar case is scheduled to come up before the Supreme Court on Tuesday, Kerala has its own reservations about the tests carried out by the expert team assigned by the Coordination Technical Committee (CTC) under the Mullaperiyar Empowered Panel. With the empowered panel to submit its report in a month or so, the state has already conveyed its displeasure.
"Kerala is not satisfied with the way the tests were carried out in the dam. We feel the ROV (Remote Operating Vehicle) tests by the CSMRS (Central Soil and Materials Research Station) under the Ministry of Water Resources were not carried out in a proper manner. In the first phase, only about 25 per cent of the tests was done. The remaining was carried out in a couple of days," Irrigation chief engineer P Lathika said. Similarly, a number of other tests like the toptobottom 250 mm drilling to collect material and the material tests were not carried out at the dam.