Mullaperiyar dam is safe, TN tells SC-appointed panel

New Delhi, Sep 5 (PTI) Tamil Nadu has told a one-man Supreme Court-appointed committee on the Mullaperiyar row that the dam was safe enough for storage of 142 ft of water and rejected Kerala's claim that it posed a serious threat to the safety of residents in Idduki district.
Former Chief Engineer of Tamil Nadu R Subramaniam during his cross examination by the Kerala Counsel before the Justice (retd) Anil Dev Singh committee said there was no need for a new dam at the site as the present Mullaperiyar had been technically declared as stable on the basis of both seismic and hydrological assessment.

According to a Kerala Government press release, Tamil Nadu had, however, admitted that the quantum of water drawn by Tamil Nadu from 1979 when the storage level was reduced to 136ft is more than the water that was drawn prior to 1979.


 

Both Tamil Nadu and Kerala are locked in a bitter row over the safety of the century-old dam located in the latter's Idduki district but meeting the irrigation and drinking water needs of certain parts of Tamil Nadu.

While Kerala wants the dam to be demolished and a new one to be constructed, Tamil Nadu has been opposed to it.

Though the Supreme Court in 2006 directed the Kerala Government to maintain the storage level of the dam at 142 ft, the State enacted a legislation subsequently to restrict the storage level in the dam at 136 ft.

Aggrieved by Kerala's move to "bypass" the apex court, Tamil Nadu filed a suit challenging the enactment.

The apex court on July 21 appointed a one-man committee of Justice Anil Dev Singh, former Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court, to examine the issue and submit his report to court. PTI .