Kerala protests removal of its expert from Mullaperiyar dam safety panel
Kerala has formally objected to the central government's decision to remove its nominated representative from the five-member Comprehensive Dam Safety Evaluation Committee (CDSEC) that is tasked with inspecting the Mullaperiyar dam.
Water Resources Minister Mons Joseph told reporters on Sunday that the state was not consulted before T.K. Sivarajan was removed from the panel, and that Kerala would not accept the decision.
“The Centre should have informed Kerala before taking such a step. Instead, the decision was taken unilaterally and the state was merely informed through a letter. The Kerala government does not approve of this action and has conveyed its objection to the Centre. The order should be withdrawn and Kerala’s representative should be reinstated in the committee,” the minister said.
Mr. Joseph questioned the rationale behind replacing Kerala’s nominee with a representative from another state, noting that the Mullaperiyar dam issue is currently before the Supreme Court and requires mutual understanding and consensus between Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
He said the state government conveyed its objection immediately after receiving the communication regarding the removal. “If there were any complaints against Mr. Sivarajan, Kerala should have been informed before such action was taken. Instead, the state’s representative has been replaced by a person from Uttar Pradesh as a representative of IIT Roorkee,” he added.
Urging the central government to immediately reinstate Kerala’s representative on the expert panel, Mr. Joseph said the state would take up the matter directly with the Union Minister for Jal Shakti if the issue was not resolved at the secretary level.
“Public safety in Kerala is our foremost concern. We remain firm in our demand for the construction of a new dam at Mullaperiyar,” the minister said. He noted that Kerala is willing to continue supplying water to Tamil Nadu and that the issue should be resolved through discussions between the two governments. If Tamil Nadu is unwilling to engage in talks, Kerala would place its concerns before the Supreme Court, he said.
The five-member expert committee was constituted by the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) under the Dam Safety Act, 2021, in accordance with a Supreme Court directive. The panel is to conduct a comprehensive safety evaluation of the Mullaperiyar dam.
