After trying to get the original judgement delivered by Supreme Court in the Mullaperiyar dam issue, I found the judgement delivered by Supreme Court. The following are some specifics pertaining to this issue.
Case No - 386 of 2001
Petitioner - Mullaperiyar Environmental Protection Forum
Respondent - Union of India & Ors
Date of Judgement - 27th Feb 2006
Bench comprising of - Y.K. Sabharwal, C.K.Thakker & P.K. Balasubramanyan
The judgement exhibits in a rather crystal clear manner in which the Supreme Court of India has looked into various facets of the case and came to a conclusion on this issue. The arguments raised by both sides are as follows. Before getting into the details, here's a short background. In the year 1979 water leakage was detected in the gallery of the dam and the full reservoir storage level was brought down to 136 ft. The Central Water Commission [CWC] was brought to inspect the safety of the dam and come up with its recommendations. The state of Kerala raised reservations to the CWC report and it's representative appended a dissent note stating that he water level could not be raised beyond 136 ft.
Kerala's argument
# Technically the life of any dam is 50 years and this dam was already over a 100 yrs old and hence this dam was well beyond it's safe useful life.
# If anything happens to the dam, the disaster could completely wipe out the three adjoining districts in Kerala.
# The dam was constructed at a time (1887 - 1895) when the design and testing processes were at it's infancy in British India and hence there's been no real measure of stress and tension because the dam has been holding water in it since the first time it was filled.
# The dam was situated in a region prone to frequent tremors and an earthquake could cause large scale destruction of life and property.
# The CWC which did the initial study didn't take into consideration all points raised by the official of the State of Kerala. Hence their recommendations can't be considered as binding on it. It was also added that he CWC was not the highest technical body in the country for giving technical advise.
# The reservoir of the dam is part of the Periyar Wildlife Santuary and is a 'Project Tiger' reserve. The loss of flora and fauna upon increase of water level would be invaluable. The raising of the storage would also affect the ecology and economy of the State of Kerala. The totaly area covered currently is 777 sq.kms.
# The agreement between the Madras Presidency and the State of Travancore executed in 1886 was null and void since it was done under pressure and was written to be valid for 999 yrs.
Tamilnadu's counter argument
# The CWC was the highest technical body with sufficient expertise on the subject. The CWC had inspected the dam and found that several allegations raised by the State of Kerala were incorrect and baseless.
# The CWC report allows the State of Tamilnadu to raise the water level to 142 ft after certain strengthening measures (this was already done immediatly after the CWC report) are undertaken and upon completion of the Earthen bund, Baby dam and other measures the height was be raised to the full reservoir level of 152 ft.
# The Kerala govt did not co-operate in this matter and refused to allow raising the height of storage to 142 ft.
# It was not open to the State of Kerala to not co-operate and accept the recommendations and suggestions of the CWC.
# Increasing of water level from 136 ft to 152 ft (the full reservoir) level increase the inundated area by another 11.6 sq.kms. The percentage of area that would be submerged would be 1.44% which is meagre.
# The increase in strorage level would not affect the flora and fauna and would only better the wildlife habitat. There will also be an increase in tourism which would translate into higher revenue earnings for the State of Kerala. The increased aquatic life would mean more revenue too since the State of Kerala had the fishing rights in the reservoir.
The Supreme Court's observation
# The water level on the dam was brought down to 136 ft to facilitate Tamilnadu to conduct strengthening measures.
# The total area of the sanctuary is about 777 square kilometers. The leased area of about 8,000 acres is a part of the total area. By raising the water level, the boundaries of the sanctuary do not get altered. The total area of the sanctuary remains 777 square kilometers.
# It is on record that animals particularly elephants and tigers like it when the water level touches the forest line. Birds and animals love water spread and exhibit their exuberant pleasure with heavy rains filling the reservoir resulting in lot of greenery and ecological environment around. The apprehension regarding adverse impact on environment and ecology have been found by the experts to be unfounded.
# Regarding the issue as to the safety of the dam on water level being raised to 142 ft. from the present level of 136 ft, the various reports have examined the safety angle in depth including the viewpoint of earthquake resistance. The apprehensions have been found to be baseless.
# Despite copious rains the Idukki reservoir was filled only to the extent of 57.365 tmc though it's full storage was 70.500 tmc. The Idukki dam which is situated further downstream ahead of the Mullaperiyar dam can take in excess of 11 tmc water should the worst happen.
# The concerns raised about earthquake appear to be baseless since an affidavit failed in April 2004 showed that no damage was caused to the structure.
# The experts having reported about the safety of the dam and the Kerala Government having adopted an obstructionist approach. (Observed twice in the judgement)
The Supreme Court goes on and concludes the following on this matter which is very concise and clear to both sides.
Under the aforesaid circumstances, we permit State of Tamil Nadu to carry out further strengthening measures as suggested by CWC and hope that State of Kerala would cooperate in the matter. The State of Kerala and its officers are restrained from causing any obstruction. After the strengthening work is complete to the satisfaction of the CWC, independent experts would examine the safety angle before the water level is permitted to be raised to 152 ft. The writ petition and the connected matters are disposed of by permitting the water level of the Mullaperiyar dam being raised to 142 ft. and by permitting the further strengthening of the dam as aforesaid.
Disclaimer : The views expressed in the article are simply a condensed form of the Supreme Court judgement. The author assumes no legal responsibility from anyone using it's content in part or in full and will not assume any liabilites for any consequences arising out of it's usage. This article is written in good faith to present a fairly balanced point of view to an issue which is of importance to both Kerala and Tamilnadu. This article has also tried to be fair and objective in putting forth the facts of the matter and has stuck to the Supreme Court verdict closely. The author does not intend to violate any law and would be glad to comply with existing regulations of any part of this article is offending or unwarranted.
