Lasting Rose

DAM 999, a movie released today about a 110 year old dam, built to last for a meagre 50 years using mud and mortar, which bursts during an earthquake, is itself in the middle of a political storm and has caught the world’s attention. The flick is about the Mullapperiyar Dam in Kerala, an idyllic state in the union of India and the last place on earth where people still believe in communism.

At the heart of the political storm is a water sharing agreement for 999 years, irrelevant in any civilised part of the world, which put the life of three million people. at great risk, as it doesn’t take in to account the aging of the dam built to harness the Periyar River. Entered in to before the Indian independence by the British who occupied the neighbouring state of Tamilnad and the princely state of Kerala, the ridiculous agreement does not provide for the construction of a new dam to replace the old one. The problem really is while Tamilnad receives the collected water for irrigation and power the river actually flows to the opposite side to the thickly populated Kerala and will engulf and sweep three million people if and when the dam burst in a catastrophic earth quake as depicted in the movie.

The UAE-Indian film has become controversial as the state of Tamilnad has prohibited its release and exhibition in its cinemas, accusing the producers of scare mongering among the vast population and the state of Kerala for secretly funding the movie. The producers on the other hand are approaching the supreme court of India for the obstruction of civil liberty rights and losses.