Mullaperiyar dam water level to be kept at 139.99 ft till August 31, court told

NEW DELHI: Keeping in view the unprecedented floods in Kerala, the Supreme Court on Friday agreed with the Disaster Management subcommittee that the water level at Mullaperiyar dam be maintained at 139.99 feet till August 31.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud took into note the Centre’s submission that on August 23, the sub-committee had met and directed the Tamil Nadu government to ensure the water level is maintained at 139.99 feet.

In the meeting it was decided that the level at the Mullaperiyar dam be maintained 2-3 feet below permissible limit of 142 feet till August 31, the Additional Solicitor General P.S. Narasimha, appearing for the Centre, told the court.

He said secretaries of both Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been informed of the decision. The two states will cooperate and follow the directions of the sub-committee on Mullaperiyar dam, said the bench, while making it clear it would confine itself to the aspect of human lives and disaster management only.

The bench said it would not treat the matter as a dispute between the two states. “Rains have stopped. There is a change in the circumstances. Our focus will now only be on disaster management and dam maintenance,” said the bench.

“We are only concerned with the safety and lives of people,” the court said and posted the matter for hearing on September 6.

Senior advocate Shekhar Naphade appearing for Tamil Nadu told that bench that the present litigation in Kerala flood is a ploy to get over 2014 apex court judgement which fixed permissible water limit for Mullaperiyar dam at 142 feet.

Karnataka and Tamil Nadu sought time to file response on a PIL seeking directions for management of water in the Mullaperiyar dam reservoir and announcement a disaster management plan concerning the dam.— IANS