MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Wednesday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation filed last year seeking a direction to the Tamil Nadu government to implement an order passed by the Supreme Court for the construction of a second tunnel in Mullaiperiyar Dam to cater to the needs of people in the state's southern districts.
A bench of justices SS Sundar and D Bharatha Chakravarthy observed that the contention of the litigant, M Sundararaj of Madurai, is misconceived and no such direction was issued by the Supreme Court. Sundararaj had submitted that the Supreme Court, in a judgment dated May 7, 2014, which was passed in a suit filed by the Tamil Nadu government in 2006, directed the government to construct a new tunnel in the Mullaiperiyar Dam at 50 feet, in addition to the old tunnel which is situated at 103 feet. The apex court further instructed the government to conduct surveys and ascertain the feasibility of constructing the new tunnel within a year, Sundararaj had claimed.
But the judges pointed out that the idea of constructing a second tunnel was only a suggestion made by the expert committee appointed by the apex court. "However, the apex court itself answered the issue in paragraph 215 by holding that the said alternative can only be made on the agreement between the two states and that there seems to be no possibility of mutual agreement on that aspect. Therefore, the apex court had only granted liberty to the parties to apply to the court if they are able to arrive at some amicable solution or such an alternative suggested by the expert committee," the judges noted.
Moreover, the TN government has consistently taken a stand before the Supreme Court that it does not support other alternatives and the court too has accepted this stand, the judges observed. Since the top court has already considered the issue, the high court cannot entertain the petitioner's request, the judges held and dismissed the petition.
Two more PILs -- one filed by the TNPWD Senior Engineers Association in 2011 to remove the encroachments in the Mullaiperiyar Dam area and another filed by Er A Kanagasabapathy to regulate the entry of Kerala politicians and other people, and assure the safety of the dam -- were also dismissed on Wednesday. The judges said the above issues were already settled by the Supreme Court and the Supervisory Committee, and that both the governments of Tamil Nadu and Kerala have been taking adequate care of the dam.