The Kerala government will seek fresh terms of reference (ToR) from the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for conducting Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) for a new dam at Mullaperiyar as the earlier ToR expires this month.
The State will contend before the EAC that seeking a fresh ToR would not violate any decisions of the Supreme Court as the apex court itself had favoured the State government holding the EIA for a new dam. The proposed site of the new dam is situated in the Periyar Tiger Reserve, a notified protected area, and any construction activity there would require a host of prior environmental clearance, including that of the National Board for Wild Life (NBWL) and the Supreme Court. An EIA needs to be carried out to obtain environmental clearance. The Standing Committee of the NBWL had cleared Kerala’s application for conducting an EIA for the new dam on December 3, 2014. The apex court had rejected the Interlocutory Application of Tamil Nadu seeking to restrain Kerala from conducting EIA studies and to revoke the December 3 order of the NBWL on April 13, 2016, the Kerala government would point out before the EAC.
T.N. writes to Centre
The State government’s contentions become significant in the wake of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin writing to Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister of Environment Forests and Climate Change, objecting to the Centre’s stand of considering Kerala’s proposal for a new ToR to carry out the EIA.
The State would also argue before the May 28 meeting of the EAC that the circumstances in which the earlier ToR was sanctioned remained unchanged and hence a new ToR shall be allowed for another five years, sources privy to the developments said.
It would also canvass for a new ToR, which according to Kerala, was intended to find a permanent solution to the threat to the life and property of thousands of people residing downstream of the Mullaperiyar dam. The Kerala Legislative Assembly passed a resolution on December 9, 2011, for a new dam considering the threat posed by the century-old dam, the heavy rainfall the State had been receiving, and the safety of people residing downstream of the dam. The resolution was passed with the resolve to ensure ‘Safety for Kerala and Water for Tamil Nadu,’ the State would apprise the EAC.
