New Delhi/Chennai: The Supreme Court on Saturday told the Tamil Nadu government not to take the pleas pertaining to Mullaperiyar dam issue in an adversarial manner and just go through the inputs by the petitioners once. The court told this to the government when the state alleged that petitions after petitions are being filed against it just to harass the state because every issue has been already looked into by the committees.
The bench led by Justice AM Khanwilkar was hearing a matter regarding the dispute between Kerela and Tamil Nadu government over the Mullaperiyar dam issue.
Tamil Nadu government wants the dam to be maintained and have a water level at 142ft but the Kerela government has objection to it.
Kerela government says that it's a 126-year-old dam that is not safe and hence it should be decommissioned and a new dam needs be constructed. It also disagrees with raising the level of water to 142ft citing it to be a threat for the people in the downstream areas.
Tamil Nadu government submitted an affidavit in the top court against the Kerela government's stand and stated that dam is found to be "structurally, hydrologically and seismically safe" and its just the "obstructionist attitude of the state of Kerela" that is preventing Tamil Nadu from carrying out maintenance activities in the dam. Further, it said that Kerela is just trying to prevent TN from raising the level to 142ft even after the issues have been addressed by the experts from CWC and a Supervisory Committee is constantly monitoring the issue.
"The submission that leaching would have naturally reduced the density of the material and the weight of the dam are incorrect and denied. The contention that no amount of rejuvenation of the dam by strengthening measures will help is a bold statement without any basis. On the contrary, the strength of the dam was earlier examined by an expert committee in 2008 and later by an empowered committee appointed by this honourable court in 2010, which conducted 40 investigations, tests and studies and proved that a dam does not show any symptom of reduction of the density of the material and the weight of the Dam," read the affidavit.
Opposing the contention of Kerela that a large amount of water released has damaged the downstream areas, Tamil Nadu said that water is released after sufficient warning and intimation to the concerned authorities of Kerela.
"The state of Kerala has stated that the expected lifespan of a dam was 50 years without any scientific basis. These issues were raised by the state of Kerala before the expert committee constituted in 2009 and again in 2010 before the empowered committee and they were examined in detail including the seismic aspect and both the committees have categorically found that the dam is safe for the seismic activities relevant to the zone in which the dam is situated. The state of Kerala is agitating on the above issues, which have already been decided by the honorable court which is wholly impermissible," said the Tamil Nadu government.
The Kerela government today sought time from the court to go through Tamil Nadu's affidavit and requested an adjournment. Court agreed to post the matter on November 22 for a hearing.
