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The Supreme Court wanted the National Crisis Management Committee to consider the act of reducing Mullaperiyar Dam’s water level to bring it below the 139 feet mark. The bench, headed by Justice Dipak Misra passed this order in response to the recent floods in Kerala caused by torrential rains. The bench directed the Committee to adhere to the recommendations for Full Reservoir Level (FRL) management and rehabilitation.
The bench was of the opinion that the crisis case of Kerala Floods require a concentrated focus. The bench was informed to reduce the water level of the said dam, under section 9 of the Disaster Management Act of 2005, in a feet by feet phased way. Attributing no expertise to itself in dealing with such matters, the Court said that the National Crisis Management Committee and the Committee constituted on the directions of the Constitutional Bench of the court is State of Tamil Nadu vs. State of Kerala and Another (2014) 12 SCC 696, may hold consultative meetings with each other, bearing two purposes in mind namely to explore the possibility of bringing down the water level below 139 feet and secondly heed must be paid while releasing water from the dam to ensure that the downstream inhabitants of the area are not affected.
The SC required the sub-committee to meet with the state authorities from Kerala and Tamil Nadu to discuss the management of the Mullaperiyar Dam.
Looking at the background, the case arose from a petition submitted by Russel Joy, residing in Mullaperiyar in Kerala, in view of the raging floods in Kerala who sought management under Disaster Management Plan and a check on the water levels by Tamil Nadu. It had been contended that the state of Tamil Nadu had risked a number of lives by insisting that the water levels needed to cross the 142 feet mark. This was a huge threat to lives of the people in the downstream area. The petitioner had laid down that release of water from the Dam with such low levels of discretion subject to the whimsical attitude of the State of Tamil Nadu is a huge obstacle and threat to the people.
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