The Supreme Court on Friday decided to examine a petition for the termination of the lease deed in 1886 in relation to the Mullaperiyar Dam originally signed between the Maharaja of Travancore and the British Secretary of State for India for the ‘Periyar Project’.
Justice A.M.
The petition states that the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, which succeeded the original signatories of the lease deed in 1970, have broken the terms of the deed.
It said that the two states have not paid attention to safety issues regarding the dam. Tamil Nadu has not “constructed an evacuation tunnel at a low level to make water drainage possible in the event of a crisis for the oldest dam in India, as mandated in the ‘Guidelines for Preparing Operations and Maintenance Manual'”. The petition is a violation of the terms of the lease deed.
Tamil Nadu did not make necessary repairs to the dam in time, it added.
The petition further states that Kerala, as the “landlord” of over 8,000 acres on which the dam is situated, should terminate the lease with “tenant” Tamil Nadu.
The petition states, “The lease deed of lease between the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu (tenant) clearly states that in the event of a breach of the terms of the lease deed by the tenant, the landlord has the right to terminate the lease with immediate effect . ” .
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