Tamil Nadu’s Minister for Water Resources Duraimurugan on Tuesday, February 27, 2024, said that Andhra Pradesh’s proposal to construct a check-dam across the Palar river went against the ideal of federalism, and was not acceptable in the friendship between the two States.
“When cases are pending before the Supreme Court, such steps [Andhra Pradesh allocating funds in the Budget for the construction of the check-dam across the Palar] should not be undertaken,” Mr. Duraimurugan said in a statement.
As per the 1892 agreement between then Mysore and Madras, no construction of a dam or any other related activity was allowed without the consent of the riparian States, the Minister pointed out. The Supreme Court too, in its judgement delivered on February 16, 2018, clearly said that the two agreements signed in 1892 and 1924 covered areas of large public interests which do not have any political element and in this backdrop, the agreements were neither inoperative nor completely extinct.
“While so, Andhra Pradesh’s arbitrary attempt to construct a new dam is violative of the 1892 agreement. Moreover, it is totally against the observation of the Supreme Court. This is a wrong attempt,” Mr. Duraimurugan contended.
Recalling the Tamil Nadu government’s litigation moved in the Supreme Court in 2006, when Andhra attempted to construct a dam at Ganesapuram in Chittoor district, he said that the final hearing of the case was about to be given. Another case has been moved in the Supreme Court opposing Andhra Pradesh’s attempt to increase the height of the existing check-dam across the Palar and this too, is pending before the apex court, he said.
“When two cases are pending before the Supreme Court, the Andhra Pradesh government’s attempting to construct a dam across Palar and allocating funds for the project, should be considered contempt of the court,” Mr. Duraimurugan said.
