Supreme Court asks Tamil Nadu, Kerala to be restrained on Mullaperiyar dam row

Supreme Court asks Tamil Nadu, Kerala to be restrained on Mullaperiyar dam row

NEW DELHI: Urging for "sanity and sensitiveness", the Supreme Court today asked Tamil Nadu and Kerala to maintain restraint on their statements on the Mullaperiyar dam row, lamenting that they were adding fuel to the fire instead of dousing it.

A five-judge Constitution Bench, headed by Justice D K Jain, asked Tamil Nadu to ensure that the water level in the dam does not exceed 136 feet but declined to entertain Kerala's plea for reducing the level to 120 feet.

It also asked the Centre to clarify its position on Tamil Nadu's plea for deployment of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to protect the dam from possible vandalism.

"Both the parties instead of dousing the fire are adding fuel to it. There has to be sanity and sensitiveness," the bench observed, while referring to the hostile atmosphere prevailing in the two states on the century-old dam issue.