Thiruvanathapuram: Former Kerala Water Resources Minister and RSP leader NK Premachandran has called the Mullaperiyar judgement by the Supreme Court "very unfortunate". "We did not expect this. It is a shocking news for all of us. We expected a fair judgement," said NK Premachandran.
Premachandran spoke to IBNLive about the Supreme Court verdict on Wednesday which struck down the law passed by the Kerala Assembly on the Mullaperiyar Dam that said that the water level cannot be increased beyond 135 feet. The court has ruled that Tamil Nadu can increase the water level to 142 feet.
The court has said that there is no threat to the safety of the dam. The apex court has set up a three-member committee to look into the restoration work at the dam and also advise safety and security measures.
Below is Premachandran's account:
I have just gone through the operative portions of the judgement. I am yet to get a copy of the full judgement. I can make out that the Supreme Court has not taken very important issues like basic safety, seismic safety, structural safety and other things into consideration in its judgement. It is a repeat of the 2006 judgement. I call it a reiteration of the 2006 judgement.
An internationally known expert like Dr. Gosain of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi gave a detailed report on the safety of the dam. His report is very detailed and highly scientific.
Even the experts from IIT - Rorkee have also conducted a detailed study of the Mullaperiyar dam. They have given a report on the seismic safety, basic safety and structural safety of the dam. All of them have come to a conclusion that raising the height of the dam would be disastrous and the present dam can't withstand the pressure.
But, the Supreme Court judgement has not gone deeper into these details. It just makes a mention of it here and there. It has not even mentioned Dr. Gosain report. Dr. Gosain has conducted a detailed flood studies.He has also studied the structure of the dam. He has examined safety of the dam, its flood situation and structural safety. All these very important issues have been overlooked.
New facts and evidences have not been considered by the Supreme Court. So many new evidences and new facts were presented before the Supreme Court by the Kerala government. But, nothing has been considered by it. I can say that it is a preconceived judgment.
In 2006, the Kerala Assembly had passed a resolution nullifying the order. I think it also played a major role now.
Personally speaking filing a review petition before the Supreme Court will be of no use. We can't expect much from it. Rarely a judgement will be modified. We are feeling sad. The lives of millions of the people living in downstream areasof the dam are under threat. If the dam explodes or breaches one day, it will lead to one of the worst disasters in the World.
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