The five-member Empowered Committee (EC), headed by former Chief Justice of India A.S. Anand, on Monday finalised six chapters in the final report to be submitted to the Supreme Court on the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam.
Besides Justice Anand, other Members in the panel are: Justice K.T. Thomas, retired Supreme Court Judge representing Kerala; Justice A.R. Lakshmanan, retired Supreme Court Judge representing Tamil Nadu; former Secretary to the Ministry of Water Resources C.D. Thatte and retired Chief Engineer, Central Water Commission, D.K. Mehta.
The term of the committee which had been extended till April 30 met on Monday to examine the reports it had received from various agencies constituted by it on the strengthening measures as well as on the safety and security of the dam. It also reviewed the committee's draft report relating to the six chapters to be submitted to the Supreme Court. It was decided to finalise the report in the next meeting in April so that it could be submitted to the court before the end of April.
Highly placed sources told The Hindu that the final report on the analysis by the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS), Pune, on the drilling work conducted by it on samples done on the nine drilling works was yet to be received by the panel.
The committee at its internal meeting after discussing 11 of the 12 technical reports indicated that it would meet again on April 13 and 14 when the CWPRS was expected to send its analysis report.
The committee had entrusted the task of conducting various studies at the dam, including marine and naval diving tests, to reputed institutes and they had submitted their reports. The tests and studies undertook by the committee are: scanning the upstream face of the dam using remote-operated vehicle and digital camera by Central Soil and Materials Research Station (CSMRS), Delhi; non destructive test, by CWPRS, Pune; Cable anchor stress test; study by Geological Survey of India; bathymetric survey by CWPRS; material testing by CSMRS and CWPRS; seepage study by Baba Atomic Research Centre (BARC); Flood study by Central Water Commission (CWC); taking cores and testing them by CWPRS/ CSMRS; conducting in situ tests by CWPRS.
