NEW DELHI: Issues relating to safety of 130-year-old Mullaperiyar dam in Kerala, owned by Tamil Nadu and a cause of constant friction between the two states, continues to resurface before the Supreme Court either as an inter-state dispute or through PILs.
A fresh PIL by five advocates led by Mathews J Nedumpara on Wednesday apprehended grave danger to millions of people in Kerala living downstream Mullaperiyar dam as it questioned the dam safety and doubted correctness of two earlier SC judgments allowing raising the water storage level in the dam from 136 feet to 142 feet.
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and Ujjal Bhuyan was informed by Tamil Nadu that under the Dam Safety Act, 2021, the central govt was to set up national dam safety authority (NDSA) and national committee on dam safety (NCDS) which were to work with state governments to determine and suggest remedial measures for strengthening of dams whose safety are in question.
The bench wondered as to how the central government could on its won constitute a supervisory committee for examining the safety audit of Mullaperiyar dam when such a move is not backed by the 2021 legislation.
It asked the NDSA and the ministry of Jal Shakti to file their affidavits on steps taken since 2021 to evaluate the safety of Mullaperiyar dam under the provisions of Dam Safety Act and explain whether the supervisory committee appointed by the ministry was envisaged under the legislation.
The bench requested attorney general R Venkataramani to assist the court in the case. It criticised the Union government for being in slumber since 2021 when it was informed that no relevant rules and regulations under the Act have been framed till date.
Nedumpara-led petitioners said they were concerned about the protection of their lives and properties of five million citizens which will be at grave risk in the event of the Mullaperiyar dam breaching.
They said the dam, made of limestone and surkhi, was commissioned in the year 1895 with an estimated lifespan of 50 years. They requested the court to direct the Centre, Tamil Nadu and Kerala to work together to resolve the safety concerns over the dam.
After reports about damage to the dam was published in Kerala press in 1979, the Central Water Commission held meetings with TN and Kerala and opined that after completion of emergency and medium-term measures, the water level in the dam can be raised up to 145 ft.
On the directions of the SC in April 2000, the ministry of water resources constituted an expert committee which in its March 2001 report opined that after implementation of strengthening measures, the water level in the dam could be raised from 136 ft to 142 ft. The SC in its February 27, 2006, order had permitted TN to raise water level to 142 ft.
However, Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation (Amendment) Act in March 2006 prohibited raising the water level beyond 136 ft. SC in May 2014 declared the Kerala law unconstitutional and had directed the Centre to set up a three-member supervisory committee about safety of the dam on raising the water level to 142 ft.
