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.