Thiruvananthapuram: Amid another swirling row over the Mullaperiyar Dam, a top Kerala official has defended the permission given to Tamil Nadu authorities to cut trees at the site of its baby dam.
Kerala's head of the Forest Department and Chief Principal Conservator of Forests P K Kesavan has defended the action of his subordinates for issuing orders in favour of Tamil Nadu for cutting trees situated at the Mullaperiyar Dam site.
In the report submitted to Kerala Forest Minister A K Saseendran, Kesavan said that as per the lease agreement, Tamil Nadu has the legal right to cut trees at the dam site. According to him, Tamil Nadu had sought permission from Kerala as per this right.
He further said in his report that the decision to allow Tamil Nadu to cut the trees was taken at the official-level meeting after considering various suggestions given by the Supreme Court of India.
Kesavan further pointed out that this had been given in the orders issued by the Supreme Court in 2001 and 2006.
However, it is learnt that the report of the Forest Department chief did not find any mention about the failure of the officials in informing the ministers concerned about the order issued by the Chief Wildlife Warden allowing cutting of trees by Tamil Nadu authorities.
Chief Wildlife Warden's stand
Chief Wildlife Warden Bennichan Thomas, in his report, defended his action by saying that the Supreme Court had given permission to cut the trees at the dam site.
Earlier, Kerala Forest Minister had sought a report from Keshavan and Thomas after a row erupted over the permission given to cut trees.
Both of them submitted reports to the minister on Sunday.
The dam which is situated in the territory of Kerala is run by Tamil Nadu as per an old lease agreement.
The Kerala government on Sunday froze the order granting permission to Tamil Nadu for felling 15 trees downstream of Baby Dam at Mullaperiyar reservoir and decided to take action against the officials who had issued it, a day after the neighbouring state's Chief Minister M K Stalin thanked his counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan for the decision.
Saseendran told the media that the order was an 'unusual one' and there was a serious lapse on the part of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden, who had issued the order.
The minister said the order was passed without the knowledge of his office, or that of the Irrigation minister or the Chief Minister's Office.
The Mullaperiyar Dam comprises the 152-foot high and 1,200-foot-long main dam, a baby dam of 240 ft x 115 ft, and an earth dam 240 ft long and 20 ft wide.
