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.

‘Lack of infrastructure hampering economic growth’

The government’s policy is to usher in development in the State without trampling on the environment and integrate both, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said. He was inaugurating a two-day national seminar on ‘Transport Vision Kerala 2030’ organised by the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (Natpac) here on Monday.

Report of Madhav Gadgil-headed Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel

The report of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) headed by Madhav Gadgil has generated much heat and dust in Kerala, with environmental activists and pro-development experts adopting diametrically opposing views. But meaningful debate on the issue has been hampered by the difficulty in comprehending the voluminous report and the lack of data analysis and interpretation. The Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB) has taken the initiative to address this lacuna by bringing out a handy document on the aspects of the WGEEP report relevant to the State.

Water Resources Minister P.J.

Central government’s affidavit before Supreme Court on endosulfan

Environmentalists in Kerala’s Idukki district see a grand design in the Central government’s affidavit before the Supreme Court that seeks to allow the sale of endosulfan in the country except in Kerala and Karnataka. The ban in Kerala, they aver, will not be effective if the pesticide is freely available in neighbouring Tamil Nadu. They point out that in the border district of Idukki, where cardamom is grown in large scales, highly toxic (red-labelled) pesticides are widely used even after their ban.

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.

A five-judge Constitution Bench of Justices passed this order

The Supreme Court on Monday permitted Tamil Nadu to carry out repair and maintenance works on the Mullaperiyar dam in the presence of the Superintending Engineer of Kerala and an independent member nominated by the Chairman of the Central Water Commission. A five-judge Constitution Bench of Justices D.K. Jain, R.M. Lodha, Deepak Verma, C.K. Prasad and Anil R. Dave passed this order on an application filed by Tamil Nadu for a direction to permit it to undertake certain maintenance works.

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.

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.