Kerala representative removed from Mullaperiyar expert committee, replaces with native of UP

NEW DELHI: A new order has been issued after removing the representative of Kerala from the expert committee on Mullaperiyar issue. Kerala representative T K Sivarajan has been replaced by Uttar Pradesh native M L Sharma. The Center has clarified that he resigned citing personal issues. Sivaraj was removed from the independent expert committee formed by the dam safety authority for a comprehensive safety assessment of the Mullaperiyar dam.

M L Sharma is a professor in the department of earthquake engineering at IIT Roorkee and head of the International Centre of Excellence for Dams. The first committee was formed on January 6 this year to inspect the Mullaperiyar Dam. The committee was formed under the dam safety act, 2021. Balraj Joshi is the chairman of the committee and Gopal Dhawan, Gulshan Raj and N Sivakumar are the other members.

The dam safety authority has clarified that there is no change in the terms and conditions of the January 26 order except for the change in the members of the committee. Copies of the order have been forwarded to the additional chief secretary of Kerala and the secretary of the water resources department of Tamil Nadu.