The story so far: On April 8, the Supreme Court ordered the reconstitution of the Mullaperiyar dam’s supervisory committee, which will include one technical expert each from Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the two States involved in the dispute concerning safety of the dam, and empowered the panel with functions and powers on par with that of the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA), a body envisaged under the Dam Safety Act, 2021.
What is the dispute?
Located in Idukki district of Kerala, the 126-year-old Mullaperiyar dam is owned, operated and maintained by Tamil Nadu for several purposes, including irrigation, drinking water supply and hydro-power generation. In late 1979, after the eruption of the controversy over the structural stability of the dam, it was decided at a tripartite meeting that the water level be lowered to 136 feet against the full reservoir level of 152 feet so that Tamil Nadu could take up strengthening measures. In view of execution of a large portion of the measures, the Supreme Court, in 2006 and 2014, held that the water level be raised to 142 feet, up to which Tamil Nadu stored water even last year. The court’s judgment of 2014 also provided for the formation of the supervisory committee and the completion of the remaining work by Tamil Nadu. But, there has been no end to litigation over the dam with Kerala witnessing landslides in recent years. Though there had been no reports of landslides in the vicinity of the dam site, the events in other parts of the State led to a renewed campaign against the dam. The Kerala government proposed that the existing dam be decommissioned and a fresh one be built, the options of which are not completely acceptable to Tamil Nadu which wants to complete the remaining strengthening work and restore the level to 152 feet.
Editorial | Safety first: On Dam Safety Authority
Why was the Dam Safety Act framed? How does it affect Mullaperiyar?
The Central government had mooted a bill on dam safety on account of the absence of a proper dam safety institutional framework. The Dam Safety Act, 2021, which came into force last December, deals with the subjects of surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance of stipulated dams across the country, all of which hold relevance to the Mullaperiyar dam.
Broadly, the law, which holds dam owners responsible for the construction, operation, maintenance, and supervision of dams, has designed two sets of bodies, one at the level of the Union government and another at the level of States. The National Committee on Dam Safety (NCDS) would devise dam safety policies and recommend necessary regulations while the NDSA would implement policies and address unresolved issues between States, apart from being the regulatory body. At the other level, the State Dam Safety Organisation and State Committees on Dam Safety have been envisaged. There is one more function attached to the NDSA, by which the NDSA would assume the role of a State Dam Safety Organisation for a dam located in one State and owned and operated by another. This is why Mullaperiyar comes under the law’s purview.
What has the Supreme Court ruled?
Apart from vesting the supervisory committee with powers and functions of the NDSA, the court has empowered it to decide on all outstanding matters related to the safety of the dam and conduct a fresh review of its safety. For any act of failure, “appropriate action” will be taken against the persons concerned not only for having violated the directions of the court but also under the Act, which talks of one year imprisonment or fine or both for refusal to comply with directions of bodies formed under the law. As required by the Supreme Court in its latest order, the two States are expected to nominate, within two weeks, one representative each to the supervisory committee, in addition to one nominee each.
