Nuclear-Dam fusion

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UPA  has been at the eye of storm over the one past year.It has been one issue after another…2G Scam,CWG scam,Adarsh Scam,controversial CVC appointment,terrorism,midnight swoop on Baba Ramdev,Anna Hazare’s  anticorruption crusade,, Price rise,controversy over FDI in Retail,economic slowdown…ok…I have stopped counting now.Call it the cosmic maya….the mother of all the tornadoes has been reserved towards the end. The Centre is fast advancing toward the nucleus of a Chakravyuha from which retracting might become an humungous affair.Ironically this controversy also presents UPA with a brilliant opportunity
 to rise back as a phoenix thereby demonstrating the true potential of a federal governance.

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Saga 1-The Dam episode
Kerala and Tamilnadu has been at loggerheads on the Mullaperiyar Dam over the last many years.This dam which had been constructed by the British in 1890’s is owned and located in Kerala but operated by Tamilnadu under a lease agreement made for a period of 999 years.The water from the dam is used to meet the irrigation needs of close to 4 districts of TN as well as to for the generation of  power.Kerala has been raising concerns over the safety of the dam and the threat that it is posing to the inhabitants in the adjoining areas.In what has been described as a “Water bomb”,Kerala has insisted reduction of water levels from present day 136 ft to 120 ft as an immediate remedy as well as decommission it and build a new dam to ensure safety.The recent tremors along this area has also prompted Kerala to bring this agenda to the center point.Tamilnadu has been pitching in for increasing the levels to 142 ft to meet the irrigation needs and to reduce the crop losses.It has been confident on the safety of the dam and has dismissed Kerala’s concerns as a product of fear psychosis.
The controversy has taken an unprecedented pitch in the last one month with political atmosphere on either side of the boundaries becoming extremely vitriolic .The matter approached the Supreme Court ,upon which the apex court has directed a political solution to the problem under the stewardship of the Prime Minister.Thus the ball is in the Centre’s court to mediate a solution on this thorny issue.

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Saga 2-The Nuclear plant episode
Koodankulam Nuclear plant was conceived to be built as a result of an intergovernment agreement between India and Russia(erstwhile USSR) way back in 1988.Consequent to the USSR disintegration,the plan was on hold until the construction began in 1997.There has been widespread protest from the inception, on the safety of the nuclear reactor as a viable alternative for the power deficit state of Tamilnadu.In 2008,there was a proposal to construct four additional reactors at the same site.The Fukishima nuclear leakage in March 2011,brought the focus back to the issue.The protests gained momentum with protesters citing several examples around the world of the nuclear plants being decommissioned.The project is in  quagmire with the Centre keen on realising the benefits of  the Rs:14,000 crore investment where as protesters unconvinced with the safety of the proposal.The political section of Tamilnadu has also strongly backed the protesters on the matter.The Koodankulam plant has become a hot potato on Centre’s throat @ the moment.

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Mullaperiar dam and the Koodankulam nuclear plant presents two sides of the same coin.On one side,while Mullaperiar dam is in limelight over the safety of people on the Kerala border,the koodankulam plant has gained prominance on account of threat it poses to people in Tamilnadu.One is touted as “water bomb”,where as the other has the potential of becoming a “nuclear bomb”.On the other side of the story,both Mullaperiar Dam as well as Koodankulam Plant promises far reaching benefits in the areas of irrigation as well as power generation respectively.It can only be termed as “the invisible hand of god”, that the UPA is presented with an uncomfortable situation of having to diffuse the “water bomb” as well as the “nuclear bomb” at the same point in time.

Centre finds itself at the epicenter of  a political bermuda triangle, which poses to threaten the very root of delivering equitable justice in a federal  hierarchy.In the event that the Centre pushes in hard on the Koodankulam issue,Tamilnadu might harden its stand on the Mullaperiar dam, since the same “safety” yardstick which is being claimed by Kerala was subverted by Centre in the first place.On the other hand,if the Centre relents to the safety concerns on the Koodankulam plant,then Kerala could use it as a wild card to strengthen the Mullaperiar case.UPA finds itself caught between the extremes and it would take political “chanakya” to  evolve with an out of the box solution which is applicable to the identical situations faced by both Kerala and Tamilnadu.At this juncture that seems like a distant possibility(P Chidambaram,PM Comments)

Its going to be a long tug of war …God speed to the people…