'Wholly Impermissible' : Tamil Nadu Opposes Kerala's Demand To Decommission Mullaperiyar Dam

In the Mullaperiyar dam case, the State of Tamil Nadu has filed a reply affidavit in the Supreme Court opposing the assertions made by the State of Kerala for the decommissioning of the existing dam and for reconstructing a new dam in that place.

Tamil Nadu has said that such repeated assertions by the Kerala Government and the writ petitioners (few individuals and organizations from Kerala) are "wholly impermissible" in view of the 2014 judgment of the Supreme Court on the safety of the dam. The Tamil Nadu Government asserts in its counter-affidavit that the dam has been found to be "hydrologically, structurally and seismically safe".

"The repeated assertion of Kerala and Petitioners from Kerala in Writ Petitions filed from time to time inter-alia seek decommissioning of the existing dam and construction of a new dam, which is wholly impermissible in the light of judgment of this Hon'ble Court on the safety of the dam. The dam has been found to be hydrologically, structurally and seismically safe", the affidavit read.

This statement has come in response to the Kerala Government's affidavit which stated that the 126-year old gravity dam constructed using lime and surkhi is extremely vulnerable and its destruction can wreak widespread havoc downstream in Kerala.

"Logical next step is construction of a new dam to ensure water to Tamil Nadu and security to people living downstream and to decommission the existing dam", Kerala's affidavit filed on October 28 had stated.

In a subsequently filed affidavit, the Kerala Government stated that repeated rejuvenation cannot perpetuate the 126-year old dam, and disputed the rule curve adopted by Tamil Nadu to fix the appropriate water level in the reservoir during the heavy monsoon season.

Countering the claims of Kerala, Tamil Nadu states that the dam has been repeatedly strengthened many times under the monitoring of the Supervisory Committee constituted by the Supreme Court.

Further, placing reliance on the 2012 Empowered Committee report, Tamil Nadu has said that there are no limits or specified for the life of a dam.

"On the life of the dam, the Empowered Committee has stated that the dam's life is linked to the inherent health and care through 44 maintenance, repair and rehabilitation. There is no limits, specified for the life of a dam," the affidavit said.

Tamil Nadu has also taken objection to Kerala's reliance on a purported article of a UN body raising apprehensions about safety of the dam.

"The reliance by State of Kerala to an Article on aging water resources infrastructure is wholly misplaced. It is not an UN Report but an article published in a Journal. The authors of the article have neither visited the Dam nor conducted any test, and some of the references quoted by them are newspaper report, which refers to the submission of both States of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It is incorrect to refer to such an article by State of Kerala, and make misleading inference on the safety of the dam".

As regards Kerala's objections regarding rule-curve, it is stated :

"The rule curve for Mullai PeriyarDam has been developed keeping in view the effect of two monsoons and the rule curves were developed as per the guidelines of CWC and approved by CWC. Further as per the standard operating procedure even for very small spill advance intimations are given to the concerned authorities of State of Kerala".

Obstructionist attitude of Kerala

Tamil Nadu has alleged that the State of Kerala persists with its obstructionist attitude in depriving Tamil Nadu to carry out the various activities related to Mullai Periyar Dam.

It is said that Kerala has repeatedly thwarted attempts to strengthen the baby dam situated near the main dam. Kerala although agreed in 2015 to install raingauge stations in the catchment of the Dam for inflow forecasting system it has installed only in 2020, but not shared the data till data.

It is also stated in Tamil Nadu's affidavit that Kerala has not permitted the cutting of trees for enabling the strengthening of the baby dam.

Tamil Nadu has also alleged that the Kerala Government is supporting a "motivated writ petition" filed by private parties.

The affidavit is filed in the writ petition filed by Dr Joe Joseph raising apprehensions about the safety of the dam, especially in the wake of the recent floods and landslides in Kerala, and seeking appropriate directions to the Supervisory Committee.

On October 29, a bench comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and CT Ravikumar had directed the parties to abide by the water level fixed by the Supervisory Committee.

The Supreme Court will consider the matter today.