The State government has not deviated with the Supreme Court over the Mullaperiyar issue, Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine has said.
Talking to mediapersons at Thodupuzha in Idukki on Friday, the Minister said the State has demanded putting an end to the uncontrolled release of water from the Mullaperiyar dam. A committee consisting of officials from both Kerala and Tamil Nadu should be constituted with regard to release of water to the Periyar.
Mr. Augustine said he stood with the people residing along the downstream area of the dam in their miseries when water is released in high volumes, adding that he was in the district when Tamil Nadu released water at night-time. For Kerala, seeking control over the discharge of water to the Periyar was more important than obtaining compensation for damage in the downstream area, he said.
He also said the Supreme Court was informed of the failure in convening a meeting of the supervisory committee appointed by the apex court when a high volume of water was released without warning at night.
The Minister said he received no response on revoking the suspension of Bennichen Thomas from the post of Chief Wildlife Warden (Kerala) over the issue of granting permission to Tamil Nadu to cut trees near the baby dam for strengthening it.
SC to hear pleas
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court said it would hear on December 15 the petitions that have raised issues related to the 126-year-old dam. The pleas came up for hearing before a bench of Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and C.T. Ravikumar.
One of the lawyers appearing in the case told the bench that some fresh applications have been filed and the matter may be taken up for hearing next Tuesday or Wednesday. The bench, while posting the matter for hearing on December 15, said the parties can file a response to the fresh applications.
The State government recently filed an application in the apex court seeking a direction to Tamil Nadu not to release a huge quantity of water from the dam in the early hours, saying it caused heavy damage to the people living downstream of the dam.
In an application filed through advocate G. Prakash, the State government has also sought a direction to the Tamil Nadu government to control the water level by releasing water from the dam throughout the day instead of releasing a huge quantity of water in the early hours without giving sufficient warning time.
(with input from PTI in Delhi)
