Key Points
The SC agreed with the decision of the problem management sub-committee to keep the water level at the Mullaperiyar dam at two to three feet below the allowed level of 142 feet till August 31.
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed with the choice of the debacle administration sub-board of trustees to keep up the water level at the Mullaperiyar dam at a few feet underneath the reasonable level of 142 feet till August 31.
Extra Solicitor General P S Narasimha imparted the sub-board of trustees’ choice, taken at a gathering on Thursday, to a seat of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices
A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud. He likewise told the court that the present level was 139.99 feet.
Observing, the seat stated: “At this point, we may coordinate that the council which has met yesterday… will make sure that… practicable water level be kept up at the dam, and both the states, to be specific the conditions of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, will participate with the advisory group.”
Additionally read | Kerala govt to SC: Sudden arrival of water from Mullaperiyar dam by TN a purpose behind surges
In an pledge documented under the watchful eye of the court on Thursday, the Kerala government had said that the sudden arrival of water from the Mullaperiyar dam by the Tamil Nadu government was one reason for the downpour in the state. While the repository is situated in Kerala, it is worked by the Tamil Nadu government.
In its answer on Friday, the Tamil Nadu government said the charge was “entirely lost and as opposed to ground substances”. It said it speculated that the request of was an “astute gadget to escape the Mullaperiyar dam judgment”. “I see a vile outline in this,” said Senior Advocate Shekhar Naphade, who showed up for the Tamil Nadu government.
The court “guaranteed” Naphade that it was just worried about sparing lives. “Obviously, the present writ request of has nothing to do with any sort of question between the conditions of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, yet it identifies with sparing of human lives in the getting circumstance of the debacle”.
The court was hearing an appeal to recorded by a Kerala inhabitant, Russel Joy, who said the feelings of trepidation of individuals living downstream of the Mullaperiyar dam.
The Tamil Nadu government said the contention that the Mullaperiyar dam is helpless as it has a huge catchment region “is absolutely untenable”.
Additionally read | TN rejects Kerala conflict that Mullaperiyar dam water discharge caused surges
The Kerala government had said that because of sudden arrival of water from Mullaperiyar, more water streamed into the Idukki repository, which is found downstream of Mullaperiyar, constraining it to discharge the water from Idukki dam.
Countering this, the Tamil Nadu sworn statement, documented by the Principal Resident Commissioner, Tamil Nadu House, New Delhi, stated: “Surge surplus from the Idukki dam is for the most part because of the stream created from its own particular autonomous catchment because of exceptional overwhelming precipitation, while the commitment from Mullaperiyar dam is essentially less”.
The Tamil Nadu government likewise contradicted the interest for setting up an advisory group — headed by the Chairman, Central Water Commission, and including Secretaries of both the states — to take a choice amid surges or comparable emergency circumstances, saying this was “entirely misconstrued” and “would add up to impedance with the task and control of the dam, which is solely vested with” it.
The seat settled the issue for hearing on September 6 and asked Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to document their reactions meanwhile.
Prior this month, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan kept in touch with his Tamil Nadu partner, E K Palaniswami, looking for bringing down of the water level at the Mullaperiyar dam in light of a legitimate concern for its wellbeing. The Tamil Nadu government contradicted the supplication, saying there was no danger to the security of the dam.
