National authority to decommission dams sought

Kerala Congress leader and the former MP P.C. Thomas reiterated his party’s demand for the constitution of a national dam-decommissioning authority.

The demand will be raised at the all-party meeting being convened by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on May 12, Mr. Thomas said here on Saturday.

Safety of people

There is little scope for a review petition on the recent Supreme Court verdict on the Mullaperiyar dam, he said, and claimed that the dam would have to be decommissioned one day or would fail on its own.

Since the most important concern of the State was the safety of its people, the government should press the Union for the constitution of a dam-decommissioning authority to look into controversial cases like the Mullaperiyar .

Cordial settlement

He said this demand was first raised at the end of a 224-km rally from Kochi to Kumali in 2012, organised to highlight the need for a cordial settlement of the dam issue between Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Mr. Thomas also expressed the opinion that the Kerala government did not do its homework before arguing its case before the Supreme Court.