New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the Kerala Government’s demand for a joint committee to decide on the release of water from the Mullaperiyar Dam without prior notice. A bench comprising Justice A M Khanwilker and C T Ravikumar observed that the court cannot involve in the day-to-day administration of the dam. The apex court also slammed the counsel for Kerala and asked to keep political statements outside the court.
The court suggested that if there is any complaint regarding the release of water from the dam, it should approach the supervisory committee first. The apex court said it is the supervisory committee that should take a call on releasing the water through the spillway shutters of the dam. This was the major demand raised by Joe Joseph, one of the main petitioners in the case. The court rejected the demand that a joint committee with the representatives of Kerala and Tamil Nadu should be constituted to decide on the timing and measurement of the water to be released.
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The Kerala government had recently filed an application in the top court seeking a direction to the state of Tamil Nadu not to release a huge quantity of water in the wee hours from the 126-year-old dam, saying it causes heavy damage to the people living downstream of the dam. In an application filed through advocate G Prakash, the Kerala government has sought a direction to the Tamil Nadu government to control the water level by releasing water from the dam throughout the day instead of releasing a huge quantity of water at the wee hours without giving sufficient warning time.
‘Instead of examining grievances as made in this application, we deem it appropriate for such requests to first be made before the supervisory committee before taking steps for release or management of the Mullaperiyar dam. No application shall be filed in this court for such grievances which can be sorted out consensual approach on both sides’, the court added. ‘All political statements are being made here and such statements cannot be made in court. Let there be a dispassionate approach. Daily applications cannot come here. This has come to what level now? This is all generated by somebody’s ingenuity and paradigm,’ the Supreme Court noted.
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The apex court posted the final hearing of the petitions regarding the safety of the dam to January 11. Senior advocates Jaideep Gupta and Shekhar Naphade appeared for Kerala and Tamil Nadu respectively.
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