An all- party meeting convened by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Monday has concurred with the government move to file a review petition before the Supreme Court on the court’s recent verdict allowing the raising of the water level of Mullaperiyar dam.
Mr. Chandy told the media that steps for filing the petition would be taken after consultations with legal experts, including Harish Salve, who had appeared in the case filed by Tamil Nadu.
The Chief Minister said the possibility of filing a curative petition or seeking reference of the issue to a larger bench of the court, as suggested by Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan, would be examined. The demand for discussion of the issue in the Assembly was also under consideration.
Mr. Chandy said the activities of the disaster management teams in the downstream area of Mullaperiyar would be stepped up in view of the move of Tamil Nadu to raise the water level in the dam. People of five districts would have sleepless nights because of the move.
Though Kerala had presented all the issues before the court at the appropriate time, they did not get sufficient consideration from the court. Asked about the failure to present the first part of the Dam Break Analysis before the court in time and complete the second part, Water Resources Minister P.J. Joseph said the government got only a little time.
The Chief Minister said the meeting was of the unanimous view that the issue should not become a cause for confrontation between Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Kerala was not reluctant to provide water to Tamil Nadu. However, the safety of the people of the State should be ensured. He said there were differences of opinion and approach among political parties on the issue. However, there would be no discord in ensuring the safety of the people. Decisions in the matter would be unanimous.
