A view of Mullaperiyar Dam on Kerala-Tamil Nadu border at Kumily, near Idukki.
| Photo Credit: H. Vibhu
The Supreme Court on Friday (December 6, 2024) fixed in January a detailed hearing of a petition seeking to bring down the permissible water level of the Mullaperiyar Dam, situated in the Cardamom Hills of the Western Ghats, from 142 ft to 120 ft to obviate the possibility of the dam breaching.
A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyyan asked petitioner-advocate Mathews J. Nedumpara, who appeared online, to come and present his case in person in court.
The petition filed by Mr. Nedumpara referred to the recent landslides in Wayanad, which claimed over 220 lives, making it one of the worst natural disasters in recent times. “
“You have raised several constitutional issues. It is better you come to court and argue the case,” Justice Kant told Mr. Nedumpara.
The petition had referred to the landslides of July 2024 in Wayanad, which claimed 220 lives, making it one of the worst natural disasters in recent times.
“In view of the recent tragedy that occurred in Wayanad, the water level of the dam has to be brought below 120 ft as many experts have opined,” it said.
Mr. Nedumpara had red-flagged that if Mullaperiyar dam was breached, “lives and properties of five million people of Kerala would be at grave risk”.
The petition has said the limestone-and-surkhi made dam was commissioned in 1895 and had an estimated lifespan of 50 years. “The dam is now 129 years old, over double of its intended lifespan,” it noted.
“Millions of Keralites fear that the dam may break. If it happens, it is said that there is every possibility of the Idukki arch dam giving away among several other smaller dams. If that happens, the districts of Idukki, Ernakulam, Alleppey, Kottayam will be completely washed away,” the petition has claimed.
The limestone-and-surkhi made dam commissioned in 1895 had an estimated lifespan of 50 years. “The dam is now 129 years old, over double of its intended lifespan,” the petition has submitted.
The plea has argued that two judgments of the Supreme Court, in 2006 and 2014, had prevented the decommissioning of the Mullaperiyar dam and the construction of a new dam in its place.
It said the judgments were erroneous. The plea said in the event of Mullaperiyar dam breaking, the flood waters would be absorbed by the Idukki dam. According to Mr. Nedumpara, the two judgements found the dam “eternally safe”.
“This finding is wholly based on the mere assumption that the flood waters would defy the laws of gravity and instead obediently travel through Periyar River and reach Idukki dam without causing any damage… Instead of flowing through the Periyar River, the flood waters are all certain to flow downwards from the cliff of the Western Ghats to the valleys below from a height of 881 metre to 150 metre. A fall of more than half a kilometre. Ten times more than that of the Niagara waterfalls,” the petition has alleged. Eom
Published – December 06, 2024 12:02 pm IST
