Mullaperiyar Dam: Union Cabinet to constitute supervisory committee as per SC's direction

Union Minister for Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday said that the Union Cabinet has approved a decision to establish a supervisory committee to determine a solution to the Mullaperiyar Dam dispute between Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Briefing the media here, Prasad said,: "In the light of the Constitution bench of the Supreme Court's decision, a supervisory committee has been approved to be established with regard to the Mullaperiyar Dam in connection with Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The constitution bench has given a mandate to the Government of India (GOI) to establish it."

A bench headed by Chief Justice R.M. Lodha delivered the verdict eight months after hearing in the case was completed.

The Supreme Court bench quashed the amendments to the Kerala Conservation and Irrigation Act brought in by the Kerala Government in 2006 to restrict the water level to 136 feet after an apex court bench order in February allowed Tamil Nadu to raise it to 142 feet.

Delivering the verdict, the court said that there was no safety threat to the dam.

It also appointed a supervising committee to look into the dam's workings and restoration.

The Empowered Committee appointed by the apex court in the issue, had also supported Tamil Nadu's demand, but the Kerala had remained opposed to the plan and had instead demanded that a new dam be built at Mullaperiyar.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa who met prime minister Narendra Modi earlier this month had also stressed on the need to expedite the formation of a supervisory committee for the Mullaperiyar Dam, as ordered by the Supreme Court in her meeting with Modi.

The Mullaperiyar Dam has been a politically live wire issue for both Tamil Nadu and Kerala, with the former demanding an increase in the water level in the 116-year-old dam to support its agricultural needs, and the latter opposed to the same over concerns about the old dam's safety.

The dam site is in Kerala, but the reservoir mainly serves Tamil Nadu.