In 1997-98, various writ petitions were filed before Kerala and Madras High Courts regarding the issue of water level to be maintained in the Mullaperiyar reservoir. In August 1998, two transfer petitions were filed before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India citing the possibility of conflicting orders from the two High Courts.
During the hearing of the transfer petitions, Hon’ble Supreme Court desired in its order dated 28th April 2000 that the Minister of Water Resources might convene a meeting of the Chief Ministers of both the States, to amicably resolve the issue. Consequent to this, a meeting was held at New Delhi on 19th may 2000. But due to serious differences on the issue, no consensus could be reached. Finally, the Minister of Water Resources constituted an Expert Committee headed by Dr. B.K. Mittal, Member (D&R), CWC to go into the details of the safety of the dam and advise him on raising of water level in the reservoir.
Unfortunately, the composition of the Expert Committee and the Terms of Reference were fixed without any consultation with the Government of Kerala. Out of the seven members of the Expert Committee, three members were from CWC and two other experts were those having obligations to CWC. As such, it can be reasonably expected that the recommendations of the Committee will be only in line with the earlier stand of the CWC on this issue. This fact is confirmed by the contents of the Expert Committee Report.
The Expert Committee submitted its final report in March 2001 to the Ministry of Water Resources recommending the raising of water level to 142 ft forthwith and to 152 ft after strengthening the baby dam, without giving due consideration to the valid points raised by the member representing Kerala in various Committee meetings.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India relied on the Expert Committee Report and delivered its final judgement on 27th February 2006 allowing Tamil Nadu to raise the water level of Mullaperiyar reservoir to 142 ft forthwith.
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