[Mullaperiyar Dam] Political statements being made in court, generated by somebody's ingenuity: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Wednesday made it clear that the applications and requests concerning water management of the Mullaperiyar Dam have to be first made before the expert Supervisory Committee appointed by the top court in 2014 [Dr Joe Joseph v. State of Tamil Nadu]..A Bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and CT Ravikumar also took exception to Supreme Court being used as a forum to make political statements surrounding the issue."All political statements are being made here and such statements cannot be made in court. Let there be a dispassionate approach. Daily applications cannot come here. This has came to what level now? This is all generated by somebody's ingenuity and paradigm," said Justice Khanwilkar..The Court was hearing a plea highlighting the “inaction” of the Supervisory Committee appointed by the Court to take care of aspects related to safety of the Mullaperiyar Dam."Instead of examining grievances as made in this application, we deem it appropriate for such requests made first approach the supervisory committee before taking steps for release of water or management of the Mullaperiyar dam," the Court ordered.If such request is made, the Committee shall consider the same expeditiously in right earnest, the Bench added. It also expressed hope that both Kerala and Tamil Nadu shall adopt a consensual approach..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 weeks been hearing a plea 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 this 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.The case will be taken up again on January 11, 2022.