Dam: Kerala appeals in SC

New Delhi:The Kerala government has moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction to Tamil Nadu not to release a huge quantity of water in the wee hours from the 126-year-old Mullaperiyar dam, saying it causes heavy damage to the people living downstream of the dam.

In an application in the SC, Kerala has also sought a direction to Tamil Nadu to control the water level by releasing water from the dam throughout the day instead of releasing a huge quantity of water at the wee hours without giving sufficient warning. A bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and C T Ravikumar is scheduled to hear on Friday the pleas which have raised issues about the dam, built in 1895 on the Periyar river in Idukki, Kerala.

The Kerala government, in its application, has said that the supervisory panel is directed to act according to the interim directions of the SC to avoid difficulties for the people who live downstream. It said a ‘joint technical on-site committee for spillway release’, comprising two members each from the states of Kerala and TN, be constituted to decide on the quantity and time of surplus discharge through shutters to Kerala. -(PTI)