Mullaperiyar dam safe, still Supreme Court wants 3 panels for disaster management
The court directed that the three special committees would work in harmony and coordination with each order.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain a plea for a direction to the Centre to appoint an international agency to go into the safety of the 112-year-old Mullaperiyar dam in Kerala, maintained by Tamil Nadu on the ground that it has outlived its life span.
A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Kanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud rejected the plea after the Attorney General K.K. Venugopal informed the court that the “dam is structurally safe” and the panel set up by the apex court pursuant to the 2014 judgment is already monitoring the safety and other aspects of the dam.
To allay the fear and apprehensions of the people downstream the dam, the Bench, ordered setting up of three exclusive committees each by the Centre, Tamil Nadu and Kerala to prepare plans and preparedness for disaster management in the event of a disaster.
The court directed that the three special committees would work in harmony and coordination with each order. The Bench said the step has been taken to allay the fears of thousands who live downstream or in the vicinity of the dam.