The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from Kerala on a plea by Tamil Nadu to replace Kerala police personnel with a Central force to guard the disputed Mullaperiyar dam.
Tamil Nadu has referred to a September 2014 ‘Industrial Security Inspection Report’ of the Intelligence Bureau saying that the Mullaperiyar project, being a vital installation involved in production of power generation, was “vulnerable” to terror threats.
Though the report said there was no specific inputs of terror threats to vital installations, it mentions Pakistan-sponsored pan-Islamist terror outfits, “remnant cadres of LTTE” and Naxals to advise that “all precautionary measures are necessary”.
The report is the basis of the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary’s letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs on May 12, 2015, seeking deployment of a “professional security force” like the Central Industrial Security Force or the Central Reserve Police Force, instead of Kerala police to guard the dam and its appurtenant structures.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu asked the Kerala government to file its reply within two weeks even as senior advocate Rajeev Dhawan, appearing for Kerala, argued that it is “our [Kerala] duty to protect the dam”.
The apex court also asked Kerala to respond to an additional affidavit by the Tamil Nadu government, represented by senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi and advocate G. Umapathy, to stop any unilateral move by Kerala to construct a new dam on the Mullaperiyar site, saying such a step would be virtually in contempt of the Supreme Court judgment of May 7, 2014.The affidavit quoted the May 2014 judgment observing that no such offer of a new dam can be thrust on Tamil Nadu, and both States have to act in agreement.
It has sought a direction to the Union Environment Ministry to withdraw the clearance granted to Kerala by the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife on December 3, 2014, to conduct an environment impact assessment study.
