The News:
- The Centre has suggested to the Supreme Court to let the Mullaperiyar dam supervisory committee continue for an year.
- By this time the National Dam Safety Authority under the new Dam Safety Act will become fully functional.
What’s in today’s article:
- About Mullaperiyar Dam Issue, Situation after independence and dispute
- News Summary and background- Supreme Court’s Judgements, Suggestions made by Centre
- Dam Safety Act and Mullaperiyar dam
- Linkages between Dam Safety Act and the Mullaperiyar dam
- Extra Info: Provisions for the distribution of water in Indian Constitution
In Focus: Mullaperiyar Dam Issue
- The dam is situated at the confluence of the Mullayar and Periyar rivers.
- The dam is located entirely in Kerala.
- It was built in the late 1800s in the princely state of Travancore (present-day Kerala) and given to British-ruled Madras Presidency on a 999-year lease in 1886.
- The agreement granted full rights to the Tamil Naduto construct irrigation projects on the land.
- The dam was built to divert eastwards a part of the west-flowing Periyar river, to feed the arid areas of Tamil Nadu.
Situation after Independence
- After the independence, the Kerala government said that the earlier agreement signed between British Raj and Travancore was invalid and needed to be renewed.
- As a result, the agreement was renewed in the 1970s.
- Tamil Nadu was given rights to the land and the water from the dam as well as the authority to develop hydro-power projects at the site.
- Kerala received rent in return.
Origin of the dispute:
- Safety concerns surfaced in 1979 after it was reported in the Kerala that a minor earthquake had caused cracks in the dam.
- The Central Water Commission was asked to examine the structure and suggest ways to strengthen it.
- As an emergency measure, the commission recommended that the level of water stored in the reservoir be lowered to 136 feet from about 142 feet.
- It held that the water level could be raised to the dam’s full capacity of 152 feet after the structure was strengthened.
- This caused two divergent perspectives leading to the emergence of dispute between these two states:
- Tamil Nadu claims that though it has undertaken periodic repairs on the dam, the Kerala government has not allowed it to raise the water level.
- Kerala, on the other hand, contends it is not safe to raise the water level as Idukki district, where the dam is located, is earthquake-prone.
News Summary and background
Supreme Court’s Judgement
- In 2006, the Supreme Court allowed the Tamil Nadu government to raise the water level to 142 feet, contending that the apprehensions raised by Kerala were baseless.
- The Kerala government countered this with an amendment to the 2003 Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation Act.
- The amendment classified the Mullaperiyar dam as endangered and restricted the level of water in it to 136 feet.
- This amendment was declared unconstitutional by the SC in 2014.
- In 2014, SC said that Kerala could not obstruct Tamil Nadu from raising the water level to 142 feet.
- To allay Kerala’s concerns, it directed that a three-member supervisory committee be set up to:
- Oversee the process of raising the water level
- Inspect the dam routinely
- Look into the safety concerns
- The SC had mooted the idea of extending the powers of its supervisory committee to take over charge of the safety and maintenance of the structure.
- In response to the court’s suggestion, Centre showed the court an alternative in the 2021 Dam Safety Act.
- Earlier, the Supreme Court had observed that the 2021 Dam Safety Act provided for everything, other than how to settle political scores, to resolve inter-State disputes over dams.
Suggestions made by Centre
- To let the Mullaperiyar dam supervisory committee continue for a year.
- The Chief Secretaries of Tamil Nadu and Kerala be made accountable.
- This is to ensure that the decisions of the supervisory committee on the maintenance and safety of the dam are duly complied with by the two States.
- Once the National Dam Safety Authority is fully functional, the functions of the supervisory committee would be taken over by the authority.
- The committee could be dissolved thereafter.
Dam Safety Act and Mullaperiyar dam
About the act
- The act is aimed at addressing the long-felt need for addressing issues concerning the safety of major dams all over the country.
- The act came into force in December 2021.
- It provides for surveillance, inspection, operation, and maintenance of certain dams for prevention of disasters related to dam failure.
- It also creates institutional mechanisms to ensure their safe functioning.
Key provisions of the act:
- The Act covers those dams having a height of over 15m and between 10m and 15m with certain stipulations.
- It seeks to create two national institutions—
- National Committee on Dam Safety (NCDS) to evolve dam safety policies and recommend necessary regulations
- The National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) to implement policies and address unresolved issues between the two States
- The NDSA will be the regulatory body.
- The legislation also envisages the formation of State Dam Safety Organisations and State Committees on Dam Safety.
- Dam owners will be held responsible for the construction, operation, maintenance, and supervision of dams.
Linkages between Dam Safety Act and the Mullaperiyar dam
- As per the Act, the NDSA will perform the role of the State Dam Safety Organisation for a dam located in one State and used by another.
- Hence, the Mullaperiyar dam comes under the purview of the NDSA.
- Experts believe that there is every possibility of the Union government will indicate in the court that the NDSA can subsume the functions of the supervisory committee.
Extra Info: Provisions for the distribution of water in Indian Constitution
- The relevant provisions of the Indian Constitution are
- Entry 17 in the State List
- Entry 56 in the Union List
- Article 262
