JUDIPOLISOCIO (Opinion): Mullaperiyar Dam

With the Centre lacking in both political will and moral authority to help find solutions to inter-State disputes, it needed the Supreme Court of India to step in to cool tempers between Tamil Nadu and Kerala on the overheated issue of the Mullaperiyar dam.
Court asked the two States not to arouse people's feelings and create a fear psychosis on this issue.
On the directions of the Supreme Court, the Empowered Committee, headed by the former Chief Justice of India A.S. Anand, is looking into all aspects of safety of the dam, and will soon submit its findings — on the basis of expert assessments.
The highest court in the land has made it abundantly clear that this is an issue on which politicking is inadmissible. Its merits cannot be determined on the strength of mobilised support, but only through legally sanctioned means.
The effort must not be aimed merely at balancing Kerala's apprehensions about the safety of the dam against Tamil Nadu's concerns over threats to its water rights. Issues of life and livelihood, which are seen to be at the heart of the dispute, need to be resolved to the reasonable satisfaction of both sides.