SC to pronounce order on Mullaperiyar Dam issue

New Delhi
The Supreme Court will pronounce its order on Friday in the matter related to a longstanding dispute between Kerala and Tamil Nadu on the Mullaperiyar Dam.
A bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar said that the bench will pronounce its order today
However, the Court indicated that decision of the supervisory committee of the Mullaperiyar Dam will be final.
During the hearing, the Court was irked by lawyers interrupting in between when the bench was trying to dictate the order.
The Supreme Court, in the last hearing, suggested that the supervisory committee of the Mullaperiyar Dam can carry out all the statutory functions until a regular authority is established.
The Centre on Tuesday suggested that the Supreme Court let the Mullaperiyar dam supervisory committee continue for a year, by which time the National Dam Safety Authority under the new Dam Safety Act will become fully functional.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, said that it will take a year for the National Dam Safety Authority to become fully functional.
“In order to ensure that the decisions and recommendations being made by the Supervisory Committee are duly complied with by the party States, the Chief Secretaries of the States may be made accountable,” the Centre said.
The government also added that to address the technical concerns of both the states, the Chief Secretaries of the states may be requested to nominate technical experts as members to participate in the meetings conducted by the Supervisory Committee. This would ensure accountability of the decisions/ action taken therein.
Once the National Dam Safety Authority becomes fully functional, the functions of the Supervisory Committee will be taken over by the Authority under the aegis of the Act.