Fresh Review Of Mullaperiyar Dam's Safety Due; Overall Condition Satisfactory On Visual Inspection: CWC Tells Supreme Court

The Central Water Commission has told the Supreme Court that a "fresh review of the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam is due and is required to be undertaken".The Deputy Director of the CWC filed a status report before the Supreme Court in a batch of writ petitions seeking directions to ensure the safety of the 126-year old Mullaperiyar dam, which is a subject matter of dispute between the States of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.The report further stated that the Supervisory Committee constitued by the Supreme Court has recorded in its meetings that the "overall condition of the dam and its appurtenant structure, based upon visual inspection, is satisfactory".Till date, 14 meetings of supervisory committee have been held, the last one being on February 19, 2021."In the minutes of meeting of 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th meetings of supervisory committee, it has been recorded that overall condition of the dam and its appurtenant structure, based upon visual inspection, is found to be satisfactory," the status report said."However, a fresh review of the safety of the Mullaperiyar Dam is now due and is required to be undertaken," it said.The petitions are listed for final disposal before a bench led by Justice AM Khanwilkar. It is pertinent to note that Kerala and Tamil Nadu have taken contrary stands regarding the safety of the dam. Kerala Government's has stated that the 126-year old gravity dam constructed using lime and surkhi is extremely vulnerable and its destruction can wreak widespread havoc downstream in Kerala."Logical next step is construction of a new dam to ensure water to Tamil Nadu and security to people living downstream and to decommission the existing dam", Kerala's affidavit filed on October 28 had stated.In a subsequently filed affidavit, the Kerala Government stated that repeated rejuvenation cannot perpetuate the 126-year old dam, and disputed the rule curve adopted by Tamil Nadu to fix the appropriate water level in the reservoir during the heavy monsoon season.The State of Tamil Nadu has filed a reply affidavit in the Supreme Court opposing the assertions made by the State of Kerala for the decommissioning of the existing dam and for reconstructing a new dam in that place.Tamil Nadu has said that such repeated assertions by the Kerala Government and the writ petitioners (few individuals and organizations from Kerala) are "wholly impermissible" in view of the 2014 judgment of the Supreme Court on the safety of the dam. The Tamil Nadu Government asserts in its counter-affidavit that the dam has been found to be "hydrologically, structurally and seismically safe"."The repeated assertion of Kerala and Petitioners from Kerala in Writ Petitions filed from time to time inter-alia seek decommissioning of the existing dam and construction of a new dam, which is wholly impermissible in the light of judgment of this Hon'ble Court on the safety of the dam. The dam has been found to be hydrologically, structurally and seismically safe", the affidavit of Tamil Nadu read.Other aspects mentioned in the Status Report are as follows :Repeated Requests By State Of Tamil Nadu For Carrying Out Repair Work Of Approach Road & Cutting Trees Through Forest Area; State Of Kerala Has Not Acted On Granting Necessary Forest Clearances From Forest DepartmentIt has been stated in the status report that for carrying out the balance strengthening measures of the Baby Dam, the State of Tamil Nadu repeatedly requested the Committee to allow them to carry out repair work of the approach road and cutting of trees through the Forest area located in the State of Kerala."At present the access to the dam site is only through the reservoir by boat. The only land route available for carrying out the strengthening works of the Baby Dam and Earth Dam is to commute and to convey materials and machinery to the dam site through the Vallakadavu Mullaperiyar Dam Ghat road which is 5 km long. As the road connectivity is essential for any Disaster Management Plan, this issue has been also discussed in the meetings of the Sub-Committee, under National Executive Committee (NEC) of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), constituted under the chairmanship of Secretary MoWR, RD&GR in terms of the directions passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in its Judgment dated 11.01.2018 in Writ Petition (Civil) No.878 of 2017," status report states.It has further been stated in the status report that for carrying out strengthening measures of the baby dam, the State of Tamil Nadu raised the issue of forest clearance in various meetings and even the Committee deliberated on the same by requesting the State of Kerala to provide the necessary clearances from the forest department but State of Kerala has not acted on the same.State Of Kerala Has Not Acted On Its Commitment To Install Telemetry StationsReferring to the recent Supervisory Committee meeting held on December 8, 2021, the Committee has said that...

Fresh Review Of Mullaperiyar Dam's Safety Due; Overall Condition Satisfactory On Visual Inspection: CWC Tells Supreme Court

Shruti Kakkar

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