No need to reduce water in Mullaperiyar

The Supreme Court on Tuesday hinted that there is no need for decreasing the water level in the Mullaperiyar Dam to 120 feet from the current 136 feet mark, as sought by Kerala.

Damning the vocal salvos being exchanged between leaders of Tamil Nadu and Kerala over the dam, the Supreme Court also said that the political battle over increasing the height of the reservoir could hamper the safety of the people in the region.

“Safety of the people is paramount, whether in Tamil Nadu or Kerala...this can’t be compromised,” a five judge constitution bench ruled while hearing an application filed by Kerala seeking to reduce the water level in the dam.

DMK leader K Anbazhagan also filed an intervention application opposing Kerala’s application.

Dispelling the apprehension of Kerala government that any change in the water level of 116-year-old dam could cause leaks and tremors, the court said if there is an emergency situation, a special committee appointed by it would have taken up the matter or brought it to its notice.

“In the absence of either, we believe the situation is not grave as being projected,” the bench of justices DK Jain, RM Lodha, Deepak Verma, CK Prasad and Anil R Dave remarked.

Tuesday’s hearing assumes importance in view of the charged mood of the two state governments. The regions surrounding the dam have been tense in the last few weeks.

The court also asked the Centre to indicate by Thursday whether it will deploy para-military forces requested by Tamil Nadu to guard the dam.

A petition filed by TN government questioning the legality of a Kerala law that fix the water level of the dam at 136 feet has been pending disposal by the apex court.

Tamil Nadu has accused the Kerala government of “manufacturing safety” concerns to build public opinion against the dam.

At this move, the apex court disapproved such an attempt by the state saying it doesn’t favour “attempt to gag politicians”.
It also objected to advertisements released by the Tamil Nadu government that cite opinions and observations of different judges on the Mullaperiyar dispute.