Kerala Floods: Petition in SC seeks Disaster Management Plan for Mullaperiyar Dam

In the light of the deteriorating situation caused due to the Kerala floods, a petition has been filed in Supreme Court seeking directions for management of water in the Mullaperiyar Dam reservoir and announcement of a Disaster Management Plan in relation to the Dam.

The petition filed by one Russel Joy was mentioned before Justice Ranjan Gogoi, since Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra is heading a Constitution Bench today.

Justice Gogoi asked the petitioner to mention the matter before CJI Misra at 2 pm.

The petitioner has prayed that a direction be issued to the Central government to convene a meeting of the Committee under Section 9 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 to ensure “high level preparedness” to face any disaster in relation to the Mullaperiyar Dam.

Specifically, the petitioner has prayed that a direction be issued to the Committee to announce and make public a Disaster Management Plan in relation to the Mullaperiyar Dam.

The petitioner has also sought a direction to be issued to the State of Tamil Nadu to ensure proper management of water release from the Mullaperiyar Dam so that no harm is caused to people living downstream from the Dam.

Further, a prayer has been made to direct the Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu to ensure hourly monitoring of the situation.

Update [2:20 pm]: After the matter was mentioned, the Court said that it would take it up at the end of the board. CJI Misra remarked, “We do not like this to be an adversarial litigation”, to the counsel for the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and petitioner.