The Tamil Nadu government on Friday submitted a fresh application before the Supreme Court-appointed empowered committee on Mullaperiyar dam requesting to dismiss Kerala government’s plea to lower the controversial dam’s water level to 120 feet.
Rejecting the Kerala government ‘s arguments on the safety aspect of the 116-year-old dam, the Tamil Nadu government asserted that the dam was as safe as a new one. It has also requested the committee to allow the state to increase the water level of the reservoir from 136 feet to 142 feet.
The application questioned Kearla’s claim that the dam’s safety was under threat because of the recent tremors in the area. It asserted that those tremors had no impact on the dam as they were “mild” and had occurred far away from the dam.
Kerala government, in its application to the committee on December 15, had sought an urgent report to the Supreme Court for issuing directions to Tamil Nadu to lower the dam’s water level to120 ft.
Meanwhile, the committee is soon expected to receive a report on the safety of the dam from the committee’s two technical experts who visited the dam recently.
The full bench of the committee will take up the matter during its next internal meeting on January 2.