Supreme Court xes July 10 to nalise legal issues in Mullaperiyar dam case
Report led by the Survey of India to the eect that the construction of mega car park is outside the leased area is factually incorrect, says T.N.
he Supreme Court on Monday xed July 10 for nalising the legal issues to be heard and decided by it in an original suit led by Tamil Nadu against neighbouring Kerala over the construction of a mega parking project near the Mullaperiyar dam.
A Bench headed by Justice A.S. Oka recorded Tamil Nadu’s objection to the ndings of the Survey of India report on the parking project. “The report led by the Survey of India that the construction of mega car park is outside the leased area is factually incorrect,” an adavit led by Tamil Nadu, represented by senior advocates V. Krishnamurthy, P. Wilson, G. Umapathy, and advocate D. Kumanan, said.
In November last year, the Supreme Court had directed the Survey of India to examine and le a report before it on whether a me
TLast year, the Supreme Court had directed the Survey of India to file a report on mega car parking project. File photo
ga car parking project envisaged by Kerala near the Mullaperiyar dam area entered the property covered by the Periyar Lake Lease Agreement of October 1886. The October 29, 1886 lease indenture was for a period of 999 years and signed between the Maharaja of Travancore and the Secretary of State for India for the Periyar Irrigation works.
A Bench had asked the Survey of India to rst demarcate and survey the area covered by the lease deed, and then ascertain if the construction of the car park entered into any part of the area.
The Tamil Nadu adavit said the Survey of India Team ought to have approached suitable agency like Central Soil and Materials Research Station for the purpose of ascertaining the original ground level, instead of arriving at a conclusion based on presumption and surmises.
Conclusion drawn
“The conclusion drawn by the survey team that the entire mega car park construction is outside the leased area is incorrect, unscientic and hence denied… By encroaching the water spread area and lling it with materials like red soil, gravel, concrete, paver block, etc, and by constructing structures, the spill zone capacity of the reservoir is aected. The maximum water level of the reservoir is 155 ft. Filling up the water spread area to bring the level above 155 ft will aect the £ood regulation to the extent of lling,” the adavit said.