[Mullaperiyar dam] Supreme Court judgment of 2014 should be reconsidered by larger Bench: Kerala to apex court

The Kerala government has told the Supreme Court that the 2014 judgment of the top court allowing water level in the Mullaperiyar dam's reservoir to reach 142 feet, should be reviewed by a larger bench of the top court [Dr. Joe Joseph v. State of Tamil Nadu]..In its written submissions filed through Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta, the Kerala government said that the Mullaperiyar dam is a 126-year-old structure made of lime and surkhi concrete and no amount of rejuvenation can perpetuate the life of the dam. "In these times of environmental change, no amount of rejuvenation can perpetuate a 126 year old deteriorated dam that now exist at Mullaperiyar. Merely carrying out strengthening measure would not be sufficient....In the above circumstances it is necessary that the judgment of 2014 be now comprehensively reviewed, if necessary, by a larger bench of this Hon’ble Court," the written submissions stated.The only solution is to build a new dam in the downstream reaches of the existing Mullaperiyar dam, it was submitted.The 2014 ruling of the Supreme Court by a 5-judge Constitution Bench was a big blow to the State of Kerala. The Court in that judgment had held that the dam was safe and that the water level in its reservoir can be permitted to go upto 142 feet. The written submissions by the State of Kerala maintained that the dispute between the two States is not about water sharing since the State of Kerala does not draw any water from the dam's reservoir."The State of Kerala is only concerned with protecting and keeping safe the life and properties of the people in downstream reaches of the river basin of the river Periyar as it flows down the Western Ghats and meets the sea north of Cochin. It is the accepted position that in the event of the dam being damaged for any reason, vast stretches of land and millions of people of the State of Kerala will be threatened," it was submitted.The purpose of seeking a resolution to the disputes between the two States is to ensure the safety of life and property in Kerala, without depriving Tamil Nadu of water for power, drinking and irrigation purposes in any manner, Kerala maintained. .Towards that end, the State of Kerala also suggested a slew of technical measures including changes to rule curve, use of modern satellite technology to measure stress, strain in the structure, and reconstitution of the Supervisory Committee and revision of its functions..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, Tamil Nadu has all along vouched for its safety.At least two legal battles were also fought with regard to the same before the Supreme Court, both resulting in verdicts favourable to Tamil Nadu.The Court had in the past few months been hearing applications by the Kerala government to ensure that the water level in the Dam's reservoir is not allowed to exceed 139 feet, three feet below the permissible limit of 142 feet prescribed by the 2014 judgment of the top court.The Supreme Court had in 2018 passed an order to maintain the water level at 139 feet during the Kerala floods as a temporary arrangement.The Kerala government in its plea filed in October last year year asked for a similar prayer in view of the incessant rains in the State, which had led to a rise in the water level of the reservoir.The Kerala government had later filed a detailed affidavit stating that the 126-year-old Dam is structurally unsafe, should be decommissioned and a new Dam should be constructed.Any failure of the Mullaperiyar Dam could have a cascading effect on the Idukki Dam situated downstream, and the combined failure of the two dams will have a catastrophic impact on the lives and properties of 50 lakh people, the affidavit had said.It had also submitted that in the past few years, erratic rainfall patterns caused due to climate change have led to instances of sudden spikes in the water levels of the Dam's reservoir.In response, the Tamil Nadu government had submitted that the Kerala government was raising the issue of safety in a bid to prevent the water in the Dam's reservoir from being raised to 142 feet as mandated by the Supreme Court's 2014 judgment.