By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu government on Thursday told the Supreme Court that the State of Kerala has been repeatedly thwarting the efforts by them to carry out the strengthening work of the Mullaperiyar dam.The Tamil Nadu government told the court that the dam is safe and there is no pressing need to have a fresh review of the dam’s safety as was suggested by Central Water Commission (CWC) and the Supervisory Committee of the dam through an affidavit filed before the Court on January 27.
“There is neither deformation nor abnormality in the Dam. Further, silting of the Dam is very minimum. In this water year 2021-22, water was stored in the Dam at a level of +142 ft. from November 30, 2021 for about 18 days, and all the parameters of the Dam were found to be within limits,” the response filed by Tamil Nadu said.
The Tami Nadu government, therefore, said that that CWC / Supervisory Committee or by its instrumentalities should be directed to carry out review on the safety of the Dam only after completing the balance strengthening works and maintenance works as had been directed by the Supreme Court in 2006 and later in 2014.
Tamil Nadu government has, thus, prayed that Kerala be directed to cooperate, and provide all necessary assistance in a time-bound manner so that the remaining strengthening and maintenance works are implemented in letter and spirit during the next four months commencing March 2022 before the monsoon season starts.
The Mullaperiyar Dam, situated in Kerala’s Periyar River and which supplies water to five districts of Tamil Nadu, has been a contentious issue between the two states. While Kerala has been maintaining for the past few decades that the Dam is unsafe, TN has all along vouched for its safety.
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