THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In the wake of the National Wildlife Board decision to cancel the nod granted for carrying out the Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA) for the new dam at Mullaperiyar, Kerala has pinned its hopes on the Supreme Court, which is scheduled to take up the Mullaperiyar case on October 9.
And the state is pretty hopeful that once the ongoing case gets over, it can go ahead with the EIA for the new dam. “We have received the information regarding the National Wildlife Board decision cancelling the EIA for the new dam. And the matter is pending before the court. However, we are still hopeful about the construction of the new dam. We are confident that once the case gets over, the EIA can be carried out. The SC itself had earlier stated that if there were a consensus on the issue, a new dam could be constructed,” pointed out Water Resources Minister P J Joseph.
The hearing has been tentatively fixed for on October 9. So far Tamil Nadu has not filed its counter affidavit in the ongoing case before the apex court.
“It’s not clear whether Tamil Nadu will apply for extension. They were granted eight weeks’ extension to file the reply after the initial four weeks.
“It all depends on whether the Supreme Court may hear the matter or not. Or they may even postpone the same until after the Pooja holidays,” sources said.
