Mullai periyar Dam

Mullai periyar Dam  is a masonry gravity dam over River Periyar, with a height of 155 feet and length 1200 feet and is located 3900 feet above m.s.l. on the High Ranges (Cardamom Hills) of Western Ghats in Thekkadi ,Idukki District of the State of Kerala.   
Mullai periyar Dam was constructed in 1895 by the British Government, over the headwaters of the west-flowing ''Periyar River'' and its tributary Mullaiyar, to divert water eastwards to Madras Presidency area (the present-day Tamilnadu)Water diverted eastward flows through a tunnel from the dam, joins River Vaigai in Tamilnadu, and is used for irrigation and power generation in Tamilnadu.
Mullai periyar Dam is operated by the Government of  Tamilnadu  based on a 999-year lease agreement made on October 29, 1886 during erstwhile British Colonial Rule, between the British Government (Madras Presidency) and the Travancore Maharajah.

  
Mullai periyar Dam Issues

Mullai periyar Dam has been a bone of contention between the State Governments of Kerala and Tamilnadu, with Tamilnadu demanding raising of water level in the reservoir to increase flow of water to Tamilnadu, and Kerala objecting to this on the grounds of safety of the 116 year old reservoir that is built using lime and surkhi mortar.
Mullaperiyar has been a hot issue politically and legally between the two Southern States - TN and Kerala and various issues are still being adjudicated by the Supreme Court of India.
In 1970 the Kerala and Tamil Nadu governments signed a formal agreement to renew the 1886 treaty almost completely.
In 1979, safety concerns were raised by Kerala Government after a minor earthquake, after which a few leaks were detected in the dam.TN government lowered the storage level to the current 136 feet (from 142.2 feet) at the request of the Kerala Government to carry out safety repairs, after which it was suggested that the storage level could be raised to the full reservoir level of 152 feet (46 m)
In 2006, the Supreme Court of India has allowed for the storage level to be raised to 142 feet (43 m).However, the Kerala govt. promulgated a new "Dam Safety Act" against increasing the storage level of the dam, which has not been objected by the Supreme Court. Tamil Nadu challenged it on various grounds. The Supreme Court issued notice to Kerala to respond; however, did not stay the operation of the Act even as an interim measure. The Court then advised the States to settle the matter amicably.
On 18 February 2010, the Supreme Court decided to constitute a five-member empowered committee to study all the issues of Mullaiperiyar Dam and seek a report from it within six months.However, the ruling party of Tamil Nadu, DMK, passed a resolution that it not only oppose the apex court's decision to form the five-member committee, but also said that the state government will not nominate any member to it.However, Leader of Opposition J Jayalalithaa objected to the TN Government move. She said that this would give advantage to Kerala in the issue.