No new dam without TN consent: Kerala

Like the Congress, the BJP too did not care about farmers — Om Prakash Chautala, Haryana ex- CM

New Delhi: The Kerala government on Monday informed the Supreme Court that a new Mullaperiyar dam to replace the existing dam would not be taken up for construction without the consent and approval of the Tamil Nadu government. Senior counsel Jaideep Gupta for Kerala made this submission before a Bench of Justices A. K. Sikri and Abdul Nazeer hearing a contempt petition filed by Tamil Nadu challenging the permission granted by the Centre to Kerala for undertaking a study and approving the Terms of Reference for the new dam project. Tamil Nadu had strongly objected to the approval contending that it amounted to contempt when the Constitution Bench in its2014 judgment had clearly ruled out construction of a new dam. Any permission to study the proposal for new dam would go against the spirit of the 2014 verdict. During the resumed hearing, Mr Gupta informed the Bench that the new dam would not be constructed without the nod and approval of Tamil Nadu as provided in the 2014 verdict. He said it was only a preliminary study undertaken by the state.