File photo of Mullaperiyar dam
Kerala has registered a strong protest against the Centre’s decision to remove the State’s representative from the five-member Comprehensive Dam Safety Evaluation Committee (CDSEC), constituted to inspect the Mullaperiyar dam.
Water Resources Minister Mons Joseph, speaking to mediapersons here on Sunday (June 21, 2026), said the State was not consulted before T.K. Sivarajan was removed from the panel and that Kerala would not accept the decision.
“The Centre should have informed Kerala before taking such a step. Instead, the decision was taken unilaterally and the State was merely informed through a letter. The Kerala government does not approve of this action and has conveyed its objection to the Centre. The order should be withdrawn and Kerala’s representative should be reinstated in the committee,” the Minister said.
Mr. Joseph questioned the rationale behind replacing Kerala’s nominee with a representative from another State, pointing out that the Mullaperiyar dam issue is currently under the consideration of the Supreme Court and requires mutual understanding and consensus between Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
The Minister said the State government had conveyed its objection immediately after receiving the communication regarding the removal of its nominee. “If there were any complaints against Mr. Sivarajan, Kerala should have been informed before such action was taken. Instead, the State’s representative has been replaced by a person from Uttar Pradesh as a representive of IIT Roorkee,” he said.
Urging the Government of India to immediately reinstate Kerala’s representative on the expert panel, Mr. Joseph said the State would take up the matter directly with the Union Minister for Jal Shakti if the issue was not resolved at the Secretary level.
Public safety
“Public safety in Kerala is our foremost concern. We remain firm in our demand for the construction of a new dam at Mullaperiyar,” the Minister said. He added that Kerala was willing to continue supplying water to Tamil Nadu and that the issue should be resolved through discussions between the two governments. If Tamil Nadu was unwilling to engage in talks, Kerala would place its concerns before the Supreme Court, he said.
The five-member expert committee was constituted by the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) under the provisions of the Dam Safety Act, 2021, in accordance with a directive of the Supreme Court. The panel was formed to conduct a comprehensive safety evaluation of the Mullaperiyar dam.
Published – June 21, 2026 06:01 pm IST
