Kerala MP calls attention to 'earthquakes'

Vibha Sharma

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Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 19

While the deadly Covid outbreak continues to dominate the Zero Hour in Parliament, a curious issue was flagged by a Kerala MP yesterday that almost went unnoticed.

According to Kerala MP Dean Kuriakose, who had also moved an adjournment motion regarding the issue, a series of earthquakes hit his district, Idukki, between February and March, leaving people baffled and “fearing for life”. “The phenomenon needs to be investigated by the Indian Meteorological Department to ascertain the cause,” he told the House.

As per Kuriakose, several earthquakes hit his constituency Idukki in a row. The first was on February 27 followed by five more within a span of six days. The latest one in this sequence occurred on March 13 at Nedumkandam, where “shocks were felt eight times between 7.10 am and 1.58 pm”, he said, maintaining that the earthquakes had left people in Idukki “fearing for their lives”.

“The epicentre of the recent tremor was at Kurathimala, which is the connecting point to the Idukki dam,” he said.

The Idukki dam is a double curvature arch dam constructed across the Periyar river in a narrow gorge between two granite hills known as Kuravan and Kurathi.

“At present, there seems to be no viable threat to the dam. However, the safety of the dam could be called to question if the earthquakes were to become a frequent occurrence. Hence, it is significant to take necessary precautions considering the strategic importance of the location and the safety of the dam,” he said.