Tamil Nadu   

Suit filed against Kerala in Mullaperiyar dam row

J. Venkatesan

"The enacted law beyond competence of Kerala legislature" The suit said the dam water was meant for irrigation of 2,08,144 acres in five southern districts of Tamil Nadu as also for generation of 140 MW of electricity

NEW DELHI: The Tamil Nadu Government has filed a suit in the Supreme Court challenging a legislation enacted by Kerala to ensure that the water level in the Mullaperiyar dam is not raised beyond 136 feet.

The Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2006 was enacted following a judgment of the apex court delivered on February 27 asking Kerala to allow Tamil Nadu to raise the water level up to 142 ft after some repairs were carried out.

Unconstitutional

Tamil Nadu maintained that making the law applicable to the Mullaperiyar dam under the ownership and control of Tamil Nadu was unconstitutional, null and void being beyond the legislative competence of the Kerala State legislature. It pointed out that the law empowered Kerala's Dam Safety Authority to reach its own findings as to the safety of the dam and to direct measures to be taken also to make Tamil Nadu to suspend or restrict the functioning or even decommission the dam and the State was obliged to comply with such directions.

The suit said the dam water was meant for irrigation of 2,08,144 acres in five southern districts of Tamil Nadu as also for generation of 140 MW of electricity. The expeditious completion of the strengthening work of the dam was therefore of paramount importance to Tamil Nadu. Further to realise the full potential of the dam, it was necessary to restore the water level immediately to 142 feet and thereafter to the dam's designed full reservoir level of 152 feet, in accordance with the apex court judgment.

Tamil Nadu asserted that the impugned law had no application to a dam and reservoir belonging to another State, the rights of which were governed by a subsisting agreement between Tamil Nadu and Kerala. By enacting the law, the Kerala Government had not only encroached into the province of the judiciary but had also disobeyed the apex court judgment.

It sought a declaration that the impugned Act was illegal and unenforceable and to restrain Kerala from interfering with or obstructing Tamil Nadu from carrying out repair works as per the judgment. An interim stay of the operation of the law as applicable to Mullaperiyar dam was also sought.

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