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A petition was filed by one Russel Joy, to seek the announcement of Disaster Management Plan and to constantly monitor water levels by Tamil Nadu State.
The Kerala Government in response to this petition filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court wherein it was stated that the Tamil Nadu Government refused to start controlled release of water from Mullaperiyar dam, when water level reached 136 feet which resulted in sudden release when water level reached 140 feet. Thus, the sudden release was stated as one of the causes of flood in Kerala.
The affidavit was affirmed by the Chief Secretary of Government who stated that Mullaperiyar dam and the Idukki Dam have same catchment area, while the storage capacity of Mullaperiyar dam is four times less than the Idukki dam, making the Mullaperiyar dam highly vulnerable. It was also pointed out that as compared to the Mullaperiyar dam, the Idukki dam gave sufficient room for dam managers to negotiate last minute flood situations.
Further, the Kerala government alerted the Tamil Nadu government when the water level crossed 136 feet, to request for the controlled release of water in the dam. But the Tamil Nadu government did not commence release of water. Since the spill way release was increased and thus, all the thirteen shutters of dam had to be opened to Idukki downstream, since the state was trying to manage by controlling the spill by letting a major portion of flood water to escape to the sea. Strict operational control was implemented over the Idukki dam but sudden releases from Mullaperiyar Dam was the main cause of the floods in Kerala.
The operational scheme fixed by the government for Mullaperiyar dam was blamed in the affidavit. The Supreme Court took note of the fact that Tamil Nadu had control over the dam and the government held that level of 142 feet was safe. The court realized the fact that the gradual release should have been started when the water level rose to 136 feet.
The Kerala Government prayed to the Supreme court that a supervisory committee must be formed for the control of Mullaperiyar dam who would be empowered to take decisions by majority regarding any crisis.
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