Kerala protests, Tamil Nadu elated as court raises Mullaperiyar water level

The southern Indian state of Kerala erupted in protest while the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu celebrated as India’s top court gave its nod to raise the water level of disputed Mullaperiyar dam to 142 ft from the current level of 136 ft.
Tamil Nadu approached the court seeking permission to raise the water of the dam in its possession on a 999-year British era lease while Kerala wants to construct a new one saying 168-year-old masonry gravity dam could collapse anytime putting lives of four downstream districts at risk.
On Wednesday, the supreme court quashed a ‘dam safety law’ enacted by Kerala in 2006 restricting the water level of the dam in its territory, which would in turn help farmers across the border to draw more water to irrigate thousands of acres of farms supplying vegetables to Kerala.
“This is a historic victory clearly establishing the water rights of farmers,” Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said in a statement in Chennai.
“Through this verdict, the livelihood of people and the farmers of Southern Tamil Nadu have been protected”.
Kerala leaders, including Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Leader of Opposition VS Achuthanandan expressed shock and dismay while their counterparts in the neighboring states, J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi, welcomed the verdict.
“We will file a review petition in the supreme court against the verdict. An all-party meet will soon be held to discuss the future course of action,” Chandy said after a meeting of his cabinet.
“The court it seems did not look into the safety of the people living near the old dam”.
Farmers in the Theni district for whom the dam is their lifeline expressed their joy with fireworks and distributing sweets while the Mullaperiyar Samara Samithi or action council demanding decommissioning of the British-built dam called a daylong shutdown in Kerala Thursday.
Kerala’s ruling Congress party-led United Democratic Front (UDF) also decided to enforce shutdown in Idukki district where the dam is situated.
“We expect all political parties to cooperate with our move to call for a shutdown,” said Fr Joy Nirappel, convener of the council that has erected a permanent protest center at Chappath near Thekkady where a large number of protesters gathered immediately after the verdict.
The verdict in the decades-long dispute was made by a five-judge Constitution bench led by Chief Justice RM Lodha saying the Kerala law interfered with the judicial functions and violated the doctrine of separation of power.
Kerala enacted the law after the court allowed raising of the water level in 2006. The court also set up panel headed by a representative from the Central Water Commission with representatives of the two warring states as members. The committee shall oversee the repair works and will also take all requisite safety measures.
To prove its point, Tamil Nadu cited a 1950 report signed by the then Kerala state irrigation minister VR Krishna Iyer, who later became a judge in the apex court, recording that Periyar was an inter-state river since drainage area lay in Madras (now Tamil Nadu).
Tamil Nadu maintains that the dam was repaired in 1979 and it was safe.
To stress the point, it cited the SC appointed empowered committee’s conclusions that there was enough evidence to show that the dam was structurally, hydrologically and seismically safe for raising the water level.
Protesters say some three million people living in four districts would be washed away if the dam broke and brought down other dams downstream.
During the height of dispute in 2011, several people and vehicles came under attack on both sides of the border.
Tamil Nadu operates the dam, built in 1886, under the lease agreement to irrigate farmland on its side signed by the Secretary of Madras State under the British Raj and the Maharaja of Travancore.
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said he would continue to pursue measures aimed at ensuring safety of the life and property of the people of the state after studying the text of the verdict while Water Resources Minister PJ Joseph, who fanned the protests four years back saying he lost sleep for fear of dam collapse as “the devastation would be beyond imagination,” said the government would explore possibilities for filing a review petition against the verdict.
New protests were triggered following a series of low-intensity earthquakes that prompted a section of scientists to say the dam could not withstand more-intensive tremors.
Kerala wants a new dam in a safer area to bring down the water level to 120ft.