Mullai periyar dam, Thekkady

The Mullaperiyar Dam is a large stone gravity dam built across the Periyar river in the Idukki district of Kerala. It is located in Thekkady, in the Cardamom Hills of the Western Ghats. The dam stands at a height of 53.6 meters and is 365.7 meters long, situated at an height of 881 meters above sea level.

It was built betweeen 1887 and 1895 by British engineer John Pennycuick. An agreement was made at the time to divert the river's water eastward to the Madras Presidency.  This dam is located in Kerala but is operated & maintained by TamilNadu.

Significance

The Periyar National Park surrounds the dam's reservoir and is situated at the meeting point of the Mullayar and Periyar Rivers. Even though the Periyar river flows into TamilNadu, the dam collecting water is entirely in Kerala. So, the river is not officially considered an inter state river.

In recent years, the dam's water level reached its full capacity of 142 ft in 2014 and again in 2018 due to heavy rains. However, a 2021 report by UNU-INWEH raised safety concerns.

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