The Supreme Court on Friday clothed its supervisory committee with the powers and functions of the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) under the Dam Safety Act of 2021 as an interim arrangement to take care of the safety and maintenance of the 126-year-old Mullaperiyar dam.
“We deem it appropriate to accede to the request of the parties to strengthen the supervisory committee until the regular NDSA becomes functional in terms of Section 8 of the Dam Safety Act, so that until such time the reconstituted supervisory committee would be in a position to discharge all the functions and also exercise all the powers otherwise required to be exercised by the NDSA for ensuring safety of the dam as also for the prevention of the dam failure-related disasters,” a three-judge Bench led by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar stated.
The supervisory committee, teethed with more powers and reach, will continue to be in existence until a permanent NDSA comes into existence under the 2021 Act and takes over from it
“The supervisory committee, in terms of this order, is deemed to be discharging all the functions and powers of the NDSA until a regular NDSA becomes functional under the Dam Safety Act, 2021... We express the sanguine hope that the Centre will take action for a regular NDSA to be established at the earliest as it cannot be delayed,” the court noted in the order.
‘Conduct fresh safety review’
It ordered the committee to conduct a fresh safety review of the dam after framing the terms of reference for it under the 2021 Act.
The Bench ordered Kerala and Tamil Nadu to comply with the panel’s directions as regards the safety and operations of the dam.
Both the States have to extend “complete cooperation” to the committee and comply with its directions. Non-compliance of the directions would not only invite “appropriate action” for disobeying the court order but also expose them to proceedings under the Dam Safety Act.
The court held the Chief Secretaries of the two States “personally responsible” for ensuring that “every direction given by the committee, including setting apart necessary funds for providing logistical assistance, is taken to its logical end without any exception”.
“It will be in larger public interest to strengthen the supervisory committee, both in regard to its composition as well as the scope of its functions, so that it is brought in conformation with the provisions and powers of the NDSA as specified in 2021 Act,” it observed.
Technical experts nomination
Kerala and Tamil Nadu were directed to nominate one technical expert each to the committee within two weeks. They should be well-versed in the fields of reservoir operations, instrumentation.
The Bench clarified that even in the absence of nomination of expert members by the States, the committee would be free to continue to discharge its functions assigned to it both by the court and under the 2021 Act. “This is only an interim arrangement until the regular NDSA becomes fully functional,” it reminded.
‘Hear representations’
It directed the committee to hear representations of the local people about the safety and operation of the dam and appropriately take action in a time-bound manner.
The Bench made it open for Tamil Nadu to approach the committee with representations regarding the work pending to be done on the dam and its premises.
The court ordered the Union to also provide logistical help to the panel.
It asked the panel to file a compliance report by May 11, the next date of hearing of the case.
The Bench, however, said parties, including the panel, could approach the court before the scheduled date of hearing in case of any exigency after filing a formal application.
Act a comprehensive solution
The court had found in the Dam Safety Act a comprehensive solution to inter-State dam disputes, especially in cases like the Mullaperiyar, which is located in Kerala and operated by Tamil Nadu.
The two States have been trading allegations against each other over its safety, operation and maintenance. While Kerala claims the dam was unsafe, badly maintained and a threat to thousands of people living downstream, Tamil Nadu denies it. Kerala has been pitching for a new dam in place of the existing one, while Tamil Nadu argues that the dam is well-preserved and so strong that the height of the water level could even be increased to 152 feet.
