Context: The Supreme Court directed the Supervisory Committee to take an immediate and firm decision on the maximum water level that can be maintained at Mullaperiyar dam amidst torrential rains in Kerala.

• Kerala said the water level should not go above 139 feet, as per the supreme court ordered in 2018 when the State was hit by flood.
• Tamil Nadu, informed the court that the level in the dam was 137.2 ft.

About Mullaperiyar Dam

• The Mullaperiyar Dam is a masonry gravity dam on the Periyar River in Kerala.
• It is located on the Cardamom Hills of the Western Ghats in Thekkady, Idukki District of Kerala, South India.
• It was constructed between 1887 and 1895 by John Pennycuick.

Purpose: To redirect the river flow towards the Bay of Bengal, instead of the Arabian Sea and provide water to the arid rain region of Madurai in Madras Presidency.

• The dam was given to British-ruled Madras Presidency on a 999-year lease in 1886.
• The Periyar National Park in Thekkady is located around the dam’s reservoir.

What is Mullaperiyar Dam Issue?
Background

• A petition was filed by a resident of Idukki district of Kerala to lower the water level of Mullaperiyar dam to 130 feet.
• The reason was due to the danger of earthquakes and floods in the area as monsoon progresses in the State.

The Dispute

• The dam is in Kerala but is operated and maintained by Tamil Nadu.
• The catchment area of the Mullaperiyar Dam itself lies entirely in Kerala and thus not an inter-State River.
• The lease agreement was renewed in the 1970s by both Tamil Nadu and Kerala giving the former rights to the land and water from the dam, to develop hydropower projects at the site.
• The first cracks in this agreement surfaced in 1979 when a minor earthquake had resulted in cracks in the dam.
• The Central Water Commission, conducted a study and recommended lowering the water stored in the dam’s reservoir to 136 feet from 142 feet.
• It said that if definitive measures were implemented, only then Tamil Nadu administration can raise water levels to the dam’s full capacity of 152 feet.
• In November 2014, the water level hit 142 feet for first time in 35 years.

Tamil Nadu’s Argument

• Tamil Nadu government wants to increase the height of the dam from 136 feet from 142 feet.
• The Kerala government has blocked any attempt to raise the reservoir water level, resulting in losses for Madurai farmers.

Kerala’s Stand

• Kerala highlights fears of devastation by residents living downstream in the earthquake-prone district of Idukki.

Verdict of Supreme Court

• 2006: the Supreme Court gave Tamil Nadu legal sanction to raise the water level to 142 feet.
• 2012: the Supreme Court stated, the dam was “structurally and hydrologically safe” and that the Tamil Nadu government could raise water levels up to 142 feet.

In response, Kerala amended the 2003 Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation Act, restricting the water level to 136 feet.

• 2014: the Supreme Court struck down the amendment to the 2003 Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation Act, calling it unconstitutional.
• The Supreme Court had directed the Centre and the governments of Kerala and Tamil Nadu to set up three panels to prepare a contingency plan in case of a disaster.