Tamil Nadu has approached the Supreme Court seeking certain directions to the Kerala government for carrying out additional routine maintenance and repair works alleging that Kerala was preventing it from doing these works.
In its application filed on Friday in the pending suit, Tamil Nadu drew the court's attention that the application was necessitated by reason of the fact that certain additional routine maintenance and repair works were required to be carried out on the Dam / appurtenant structures on an urgent basis since the monsoon was over and the time upto May, 2012 was the most appropriate time for carrying out these works which had remained pending for a considerably long period of time.
It said when Tamil Nadu proceeded to carry out a routine maintenance work, to fill up the soil trial pits put up in the downstream side of the Baby Dam with earth and repairs for the proper upkeep of the dam, the Kerala police personnel stationed at the Dam site stopped the work.
It has become imperative for the applicant State to approach the Court for appropriate decision on the State of Kerala to instruct the Kerala police stationed in the dam site and the forest guards, rangers and officers of Kerala not to obstruct the officials of the State of Tamil Nadu from carrying out the above mentioned works, required to be done urgently.
By another application, Tamil Nadu sought a direction to Kerala not to proceed with the study of real-time monitoring system for water build-up in the Mullaperiyar Dam, when the entire issue as to the safety of the dam was before the Empowered Committee, which had caused and was conducting several scientific tests in this regard.
It said it was for the Empowered Committee to decide what test / studies were necessary and to have them carried out and it was not open to State of Kerala, a party to the suit, to unilaterally carryout any study or tests on the dam particularly when this Court had ordered status quo.
The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu had written a letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh bringing to his notice the recent news item regarding the unilateral decision to install real-time monitoring system for water build up in the Mullaperiyar Dam and the agreement said to have been entered with the Ministry of Science and Technology.
It wanted a direction to the Department of Science and Technology and the Government of Kerala not to proceed further in any activity against the established rights of Tamil Nadu.
