The increase in water level of the Mullaperiyar dam will be in violation of provisions of three Central legislations, Forest Conservation Act, Forest Rights Act, and the Wildlife Protection Act, the Forest Department has pointed out.
A meeting of senior officials, chaired by Forest Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, arrived at the conclusion after assessing the Supreme Court decision on Monday.
All-party meetThe meeting was convened as a prelude to an all-party meeting at the State capital.
The Supreme Court seemed to have overlooked the violations of these legislations while passing the verdict in the case.
G. Harikumar, Chief Wildlife Warden, has been asked to draw up a report on the violations of the legislation and assess the environmental impact of increasing the water level, Mr. Radhakrishnan said. Going by the provisions of the Forest Conservation Act, the permission of the Chief Wildlife Warden of a State needs to be obtained for lowering or even increasing the water level in protected areas, which may impact the wildlife.
The views of the State government will form part of the views of the Chief Wildlife Warden in that case. Thus the State government will have a say in the issue, Mr. Radhakrishnan said.
When the water level of the dam is increased to 152 ft, nearly 50 tribal families in the Mullaperiyar area will be hit.
The Forest Rights Act guarantees certain rights to the tribal people, which seemed to have not been considered in the case of Mullaperiyar, he said.
Mr. Radhakrishnan said he would visit the dam area following the Supreme Court order.
