By IANS,
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday directed that the report of an expert committee that studied the safety of 119-year-old Mullaperiyar Dam in Kerala be shared with Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
The committee was headed by former chief justice A.S. Anand. The court said copies of its report be given to the two state governments in a sealed cover.
The five-judge apex court bench of Justice D.K. Jain, Justice R.M. Lodha, Justice Deepak Verma, Justice C.K. Prasad and Justice Anil R. Dave would next hear the case July 23.
The committee was set up in February, 2010 to study all aspect of the dam on the Periyar river, including its safety. The committee submitted its report to the apex court April 25.
The court said that it could only “wish and hope” as senior counsel Harish Salve told the court that Kerala was inclined to find a political consensus of the emotive and contentious issue.
The senior counsel said that for evolving consensus, it was necessary that both the sides should sit and hammer out difference.
Both Tamil Nadu and Kerala are at loggerhead on the fate of the dam. Kerala is advocating dismantling of the dam, holding that its structure was not safe, while Tamil Nadu is opposed to it.
The Tamil Nadu government is managing the dam ever since its inception. Tamil Nadu, while holding that there was no threat to the structure of the dam, is seeking to increase its water level from the existing 132 ft. to 136 ft.
The committee includes retired judges of the apex court Justice K.T. Thomas and Justice A.R. Lakshmanan, representing Kerala and Tamil Nadu respectively.
The other members of the committee are former water resources secretary C.D. Thatte and retired chief engineer, Central Water Commission, D.K. Mehta.