The Supreme Court on Friday directed its Registry to digitise the final report of the Empowered Committee relating to the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam as well as the study and investigation reports relied on by this committee for reaching a conclusion.

A five-judge Constitution Bench comprising Justices D.K. Jain, R.M. Lodha, H.L. Dattu, C.K. Prasad and A.R. Dave gave this direction during the course of hearing of the Tamil Nadu’s suit challenging the law enacted by Kerala to restrict the water level in the dam to 136 ft.

The Supreme Court today directed digitisation of a voluminous Expert Committee’s Report on safety aspects of Mullaperiyar dam which would be the basis for determining validity of an Act passed by K

The Kerala Water Resources Department will review the safety aspects of all dams under it.

A conference convened by Minister for Water Resources P. J. Joseph took the decision in view of the overtopping of the Pazhassi Dam early this week. It decided to replace all the shutters of the dam urgently and entrust the work to public sector undertaking Kerala Electrical and Allied Engineering Company. Rs. 7 crore had been sanctioned for the work.

The Mullaperiyar Agitation Council, which is spearheading an agitation for a new dam in Mullaperiyar on Monday termed the Supreme Court order giving permission for conducting the maintenance work of the dam as only a “temporary solutution”, and said that it hoped the final judgement will allay the fears of the people living on the downstream of the age-old structure.

He said that by merely giving permission for conducting the maintenance work will not help in the long-run in consideration of the age-old structure. However, with the monsoon season already set in, a temporary solution was needed even as the downstream area is ill-equipped to deal a calamity-like situation.

Dam safe for increasing water level, says report

The Supreme Court will consider on Monday the report of the Empowered Committee — headed by the former Chief Justice of India, A.S. Anand — which has said the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam (MPD) “is hydrologically, structurally and seismically safe for raising the water level from 136 feet to 142 feet after carrying out certain repairs.” On May 4, a Constitution Bench of Justices D.K. Jain, R.M. Lodha, Deepak Verma, C.K. Prasad and Anil R. Dave asked the Registry to supply copies of the report to the Union government, Tamil Nadu and Kerala and directed the matter be listed for further hearing to July 23.

With the Supreme Court (SC) to take up the Mullaperiyar case for hearing on July 23, Kerala is gearing up to contest the findings of the SC-appointed Empowered Committee (EC) with special emphasis on the panel’s conclusion that the dam was safe.

Water Resources Minister P.J. Joseph on Monday left for New Delhi for a special session on Tuesday with Harish Salve, Kerala’s senior counsel on the issue. According to sources, the State, though relieved with the EC’s acceptance of the State’s proposal for a new dam, was still firm on opposing the other findings in its report, including the conclusion that the existing dam was hydrologically, technically, and structurally safe.

People affected by the Omkareshwar dam project sat on an indefinite ‘ jal satyagr aha ’ against the Madhya Pradesh government’s decision of filling up the dam up to a height of 193 meters.

The protesters, gathered under the banner of the Narmada Bachao Andolan in Ghogalgaon village of Khandwa district, set up a camp just above 189 meters, the current water level of the dam, and commenced the satyagrah a , resolving to not budge until the government fulfilled their rightful demands of relief and rehabilitation, including land-based compensation.

Kerala will fight the Empowered Committee report that the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam is safe and continue to press its case for a new dam at a Supreme Court hearing, scheduled to be held on July 23, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Water Resources Minister P J Joseph told the Assembly on Friday.

“The empowered committee which concluded that the dam was indeed safe has also proposed a new dam. We have to highlight the positive side and strive to achieve it,” Chandy said.