Two members of the Empowered Committee appointed by the Supreme Court on the Mullaperiyar dam issue have arrived in the Idukki district for conducting on-the-spot evaluation at a string of dams around the site.
Mr C.D. Thatte and Mr D.K. Mehta, the two members, arrived in Lower Periyar this morning. They are expected to visit the Idukki arch dam, and the smaller Cheruthoni and Kulamavu dams downstream of Mullaperiyar on the Kerala side.
Among those who are accompanying the team are Mr M.K. Parameswaran Nair, Chairman, and Mr James Wilson, Member, Mullaperiyar Special Cell, appointed by the Government of Kerala; Ms P. Lethika, Chief Engineer, and Ms Leena George, Executive Engineer (Inter-State Waters), Irrigation Department, Kerala.
The team is scheduled to visit the Mullaperiyar dam tomorrow, and will later go to the Vaigai dam site across the inter-State border in Tamil Nadu. It will later wind up the programme and proceed to Delhi where a report will be submitted to the Empowered Committee.
Earlier last evening, Mr Thatte told newspersons that the effort would be to build a consensus on the Mullaperiyar issue but declined to comment any further citing the ongoing case in Supreme Court.