A statue of British engineer Col JohnPennycuick, who built Mullaperiyar dam for the water-starved districts of south Nadu, will be installed by the State Government in a park inCamberleyin the UK, chief minister M K Stalin said on Saturday. The over century old dam located in Idukki district of Kerala is owned, operated and maintained by theTamil Nadugovernment.
In a statement, the chief minister said that he was immensely happy to make the announcement on January 15, the birthday of Pennycuick. The Tamil diaspora in London had made efforts to install the statue in Pennycuicks hometown and got permission from St Peters Church as per British laws.
The state government had been making persistent efforts to raise the water storage level of the dam to 152 feet in Madras High Court, Supreme Court, Central Water Commission and other high-level bodies.