Supreme Court quashes Kerala Assembly law on Mullaperiyar dam; rules
that water level can be raised to 142 feet.
The Supreme Court today
quashed the law passed by Kerala Assembly on the Mullaperiyar dam and ruled
that the water level of the dam can be raised to 142 feet. The apex court
appointed three-member Committee to supervise its safety aspects. The verdict
comes in a suit filed by Tamil Nadu questioning the law enacted by Kerala in
2006 to restrict the water level in the Mullaperiyar dam at 136 feet though the
Apex Court had permitted Tamil Nadu to raise the water level up to 142 feet.
The much-awaited verdict in the case comes eight months after the hearing was
completed by a five member Constitutional Bench.
Tamil Nadu had been
demanding a rise in the water level to support its agricultural needs. Kerala
had opposed the same pointing out concerns about the safety of the
more-than-a-century-old lime-surkhi structure and demanded building a new dam
at Mullaperiyar. The Bench in 2010 had appointed an empowered committee headed
by former Chief Justice of India A.S. Anand to go into the safety aspects and
the report was submitted in April 2012. The panel had said, the dam is
structurally and hydrological safe, and Tamil Nadu can raise the water level
from 136 to 142 feet after carrying out certain repairs.
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