NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday said, "immediate attention" is required to be given to the safety of the 126-year-old Mullaperiyar Dam and the supervisory committee will be strengthened to take steps that are required to be taken by the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) under the Dam Safety Act 2021.
The apex court, which asked both Kerala and Tamil Nadu not to go into the history and concentrate on the future of the dam, said the supervisory committee will issue directions that will be complied with by both the states.
The top court, which appealed to both the states to "let the water flow" safely, said it would pass the order in the matter on Friday.
A bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar is hearing pleas raising issues about the dam.
On April 5, the apex court had said the supervisory committee can be asked to carry out all the statutory functions until the NDSA is established. "Today, immediate attention is required to be given to the safety of the existing dam, for which there is an authority under the Act but it is not established," the bench, also comprising Justice A S Oka and Justice C T Ravikumar, said on Thursday.
Senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, appearing for Kerala, said in principle, they have no difficulty with the court's suggestions that the supervisory committee may carry out the functions of national authority, subject to a timeline. The state suggested a change of the supervisory committee chairman with a senior official heading the committee.
Senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, appearing for Tamil Nadu, said they have been obstructed in implementing measures which the apex court had permitted them to undertake in its 2006 and 2014 judgements. The bench observed the focus should be on strengthening the supervisory committee.
The bench said that the present chairman of the supervisory committee can continue, after seeking the views of additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati, who represented the Central Water Commission and supervisory committee.
