The Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, has said that the empowered committee's report favours construction of a new dam downstream of Mullaperiyar.
Speaking to newspersons here, he said that the State's demand has got the approval of the Supreme Court-appointed panel, even if with strings attached.
Firm stand
The State government will continue to highlight the case for the new dam in future proceedings at the Supreme Court, the Chief Minister said. But the last word would be that of the Supreme Court, he reiterated. It would be binding on the State, too.
According to Mr Chandy, the State had vowed to raise the dam by drawing on its own resources. This was what the empowered committee report too recommended, he told newspersons after a meeting of the Cabinet.
It was the first time that the Chief Minister aired comments on the empowered committee report, which had elicited varied reactions from parties and groups.
OPPOSING VIEWS
At least two Cabinet colleagues representing different political parties in the coalition government had chosen to go to town with opposing views on the report.
Mr Chandy also sought to extend his solidarity with Justice K.T. Thomas, who had represented the State on the empowered committee.
Justice Thomas had run into rough weather with assorted political parties and groups which held the view that the committee report was a letdown for the State.
But the Chief Minister said that Justice Thomas had made known his reservations in the dissenting note that he had submitted along with the report.
STATED POSITION
“He may not have been articulate on the safety aspect of the dam but had expressed views against raising the reservoir level beyond 136 ft,” Mr Chandy said.
The six concrete facts presented by him to bolster his argument also represented the State government's own stated position in the matter.
While being a ‘representative' of the State in the committee, it was wrong to assume that Justice Thomas would act as its attorney.
“In any case, we have got what we wanted – a green signal for the proposed new dam downstream of the century-old structure,” the Chief Minister said.