The Supreme Court has appointed a three-member panel to monitor the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam and ensure that the water level is raised to 142 feet. In its verdict on Wednesday, a five-judge Constitution Bench said: “To allay the apprehensions of Kerala — though none exists — about the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam on restoration of the FRL [full reservoir level] to 142 feet, a three-member supervisory committee is constituted. The committee shall have one representative from the Central Water Commission and one representative each from the two States — Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The representative of the Central Water Commission shall be the chairman of the committee. The committee shall supervise the restoration of the FRL in the Mullaperiyar dam to the elevation of 142 feet.” The Bench said: “The committee shall inspect the dam periodically, more particularly immediately before the monsoon and during the monsoon and keep a close watch on its safety and recommend measures which are necessary. Such measures shall be carried out by Tamil Nadu. The committee shall be free to take appropriate steps and issue necessary directions to the two States — Tamil Nadu and Kerala — or any of them if so required for the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam in an emergent situation. Such directions shall be obeyed by all concerned. The committee shall permit Tamil Nadu to carry out further precautionary measures that may become necessary upon its periodic inspection of the dam in accordance with the guidelines of the Central Water Commission and the Dam Safety Organisation.” The former Supreme Court judge A.R. Lakshmanan, who was Tamil Nadu’s representative in the Empowered Committee, welcomed the judgment, and said: “I am glad to say that the painstaking work done by the EC has been fully accepted and recognised by the apex court. We inspected the dam two times and submitted 11 reports. We have done a thorough job for two years, ably assisted by technical members and considered all aspects of safety and found the dam is safe.”