New Delhi: The Supreme on Friday ordered that the water level at the Mullaperiyar dam be maintained at 139 feet till 31 August, keeping in mind the grave devastation that took place due to the unprecedented floods in Kerala.
A Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud considered the Centre’s submission that the sub-committee of the Mullaperiyar dam had met on August 23 and directed the Tamil Nadu government to ensure that the water level was maintained at 139 feet, two feet below the permissible limit fixed by the apex court. The Bench made it clear that it would confine itself to the aspect of disaster management and said the decision to lower the water limit in the dam was taken in view of the Kerala floods.
The observation came after the Tamil Nadu government alleged that “it could be a part of a sinister design” to circumvent the apex court’s decision to fix the permissible limit. The Bench fixed the matter for hearing on September 6 and asked Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to file their responses.
On Thursday, the Kerala government told the apex court that the sudden release of water from the Mullaperiyar Dam by the Tamil Nadu government was one of the reasons for the floods. It had said that out of a total population of around 3.48 crore, more than 54 lakh, or one sixth of the population of Kerala, had been directly affected by the floods.
The Mullaperiyar Dam is located on the Western Ghats near Thekkady in Idukki district of Kerala on the Periyar river. Kerala resident Russel Roy had filed a plea seeking, among other things, a direction to Tamil Nadu to manage the water level in the dam as the floods in Kerala created a havoc. The top court had earlier ordered the disaster management panel of the Mullaperiyar Dam to urgently decide on lowering the water level.
The direction to consider reducing the water level up to 139 feet from the existing 142 feet had come in the backdrop of Kerala Chief Minister writing to his Tamil Nadu counterpart E K Palaniswami, seeking lowering of the water level of the Mullaperiyar dam in the interest of safety. The Tamil Nadu government had opposed the plea, saying the current inflow of water into the dam was 20,000 cusecs and due to rains, it would not be possible to reduce the water level immediately.