SC to pronounce order on Mullaiperiyar Dam issue tomorrow

The Supreme Court will pronounce its order on Friday in the matter related to a longstanding dispute between Kerala and Tamil Nadu on the Mullaiperiyar Dam. A bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar said that the bench will pronounce its order tomorrow.

However, the Court indicated that decision of the supervisory committee of the Mullaiperiyar Dam will be final. During the hearing, the Court was irked by lawyers interrupting in between when the bench was trying to dictate the order.

The Supreme Court, in the last hearing, suggested that the supervisory committee of the Mullaiperiyar Dam can carry out all the statutory functions until a regular authority is established. The Centre on Tuesday suggested that the Supreme Court let the Mullaiperiyar Dam supervisory committee continue for a year, by which time the National Dam Safety Authority under the new Dam Safety Act will become fully functional.

"During the period of one year, when the National Dam Safety Authority comes fully functional, the Supervisory Committee on Mullaiperiyar Dam may continue its functioning as per the existing mandate in regulating the operations of the Mullaiperiyar Dam," the Central government said in its proposal. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, said that it will take a year for the National Dam Safety Authority to become fully functional.

"In order to ensure that the decisions and recommendations being made by the Supervisory Committee are duly complied with by the party States, the Chief Secretaries of the States may be made accountable," the Centre said. The government also added that to address the technical concerns of both the states, the Chief Secretaries of the states may be requested to nominate technical experts as members to participate in the meetings conducted by the Supervisory Committee. This would ensure accountability of the decisions/ action taken therein.

Once the National Dam Safety Authority becomes fully functional, the functions of the Supervisory Committee will be taken over by the Authority under the aegis of the Act.