Tamil Nadu Timeline

AgricultureBritish Crown rule

Periyar lease agreement with Travancore

· Mullaperiyar Dam

Periyar lease agreement with Travancore
Rameshng at Malayalam Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

A 999-year lease for the Periyar irrigation works, signed by Travancore and the Secretary of State for India, later underpinned the Mullaperiyar dispute.

The Secretary of State for India and Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma, Maharaja of Travancore, signed a 999-year lease indenture for the Periyar Irrigation Works on 29 October 1886. Under its terms the Madras Presidency could build a dam on the Periyar river inside Travancore and send its waters eastward to the arid districts of Madurai and Ramnad. After independence, this agreement served as the legal foundation of the protracted water dispute between Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Related events

  1. 1892

    1. 1892KaveriAgriculture

      Madras and Mysore sign the 1892 Cauvery agreement

      After an 1890 conference, the Madras Presidency and Mysore signed an agreement on the use of the Cauvery's waters.

  2. 1895

    1. 1895Mullaperiyar DamAgriculture

      Mullaperiyar Dam completed

      The Periyar dam, built under John Pennycuick between 1887 and 1895, began diverting water east to the Madurai region of the Madras Presidency.

  3. 1970

    1. 1970Mullaperiyar DamAgriculture

      Mullaperiyar lease agreement renewed with Kerala

      The 1886 Periyar lease was renewed by Tamil Nadu and Kerala in 1970, with a higher rent and a new charge on power produced from the water.

  4. 1979

    1. 1979Mullaperiyar DamInfrastructure

      Mullaperiyar dam safety dispute begins

      Kerala's safety fears about Mullaperiyar dam after the 1979 Morvi disaster led Tamil Nadu to cut its storage level to 136 feet and reinforce the structure.

  5. 2006

    1. 27 Feb 2006Mullaperiyar DamLaw Justice

      Supreme Court allows higher Mullaperiyar level; Kerala passes dam law

      The Supreme Court allowed Tamil Nadu to raise the Mullaperiyar dam's level to 142 feet; Kerala responded with a law capping it at 136 feet.

  6. 2014

    1. 7 May 2014Mullaperiyar DamLaw Justice

      Supreme Court verdict on Mullaperiyar dam

      The Supreme Court allowed Tamil Nadu to raise the Mullaperiyar reservoir level to 142 feet and struck down Kerala's law restricting it.

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