KOCHI: Alleging that the Mullaperiyar Supervisory Committee, which was formed by the Supreme Court to ensure safety of the dam, has been lackadaisical in functioning, Dr Joe Joseph, the petitioner in the case, submitted an affidavit before the court urging to direct the panel to file a compliance report.
The case will come up for hearing in the SC on Monday. He urged the court to issue directives to the committee to finalise the rule curve and gate operation schedule of the dam after giving due consideration to the objections raised by Kerala.
He also urged the court to issue a directive to the Central Water Commission to catalogue the instruments in the dam and prepare a comprehensive instrumentation plan which should be implemented at the earliest. Another plea is to ensure the functioning of the supervisory committee on a day-to-day basis with sufficient engineers and technical staff to monitor the safe operation of the dam. The panel should independently collect data regarding seepage, instrumentation and geodetic survey and publish it periodically on the website.
The petitioner stressed the need for periodical inspection of the dam at least once in three months, in addition to pre-and post-monsoon inspections. The supervisory committee should publish the report on its website. The supervisory committee should conduct an extensive safety evaluation of the dam immediately with the aid of reputed professional institutions. Dr Joe said the last evaluation was conducted 10 years ago.
Spill from Mullaperiyar, Idukki dams increased
Idukki: With the water level in the dams inching close to the upper rule curve level, the spill from Mullaperiyar and Idukki dams were increased on Saturday morning to regulate the water level. As water level in Mullaperiyar dam reached 141.10 ft, two shutters were opened to a height of 30 cm releasing 22,000 litres of water per second. The water level in Idukki dam stood at 2,399.98 ft at 8 pm on Saturday.
Cong to form human chain at Mullaperiyar today
T’Puram: The Congress state leadership has decided to form a human chain at Mullaperiyar on Sunday urging the state government to find a permanent solution to the dam issue. The human chain will stretch from Vandiperiyar to Vallardy.