Measure material desilted from Chulliyar dam in the presence of Palakkad district geologist: Kerala HC

Kochi: The high court has directed Kerala Irrigation Infrastructure Development Corporation (KIIDC) to ensure that the quantity of desilted material from the Chulliyar dam in Palakkad is measured in the presence of the district geologist, Palakkad, to prevent excess material from being removed from the dam, which could cause significant loss to the state exchequer.A bench of Justice A A Ziyad Rahman issued the directive on a petition filed by M/s Koothradans Infrastructure LLP, the contractor entrusted with the desiltation work at Chulliyar dam, seeking transit passes to remove the extracted desilting sediments, consisting of sand, clay and waste oil, from the dam.During the previous hearing on Aug 3, the KIIDC submitted that although the petitioner had been permitted to desilt 11,33,610 cubic metres of sediments, 2,25,830.17 cubic metres of the desilted material remained to be disposed of and was stacked at the site and its premises. It was further submitted that although the contract period had already expired, the corporation had no objection to transporting the material already desilted, for which the petitioner had already paid royalty. Accordingly, the court directed the KIIDC to make necessary arrangements to measure the quantity of desilted sediments lying on the dam premises and, upon completion of the measurement, issue the necessary transit passes to the petitioner for transporting the material.However, on Aug 20, a third party filed an impleading petition alleging that the quantity of material kept on the dam premises after excavation was much more than what was specified in the statement submitted by the KIIDC. The impleading petitioner also sought the appointment of an advocate commissioner to measure the quantity, alleging that the contractor and certain KIIDC officials were acting in collusion to extract and remove excess material from the premises. Accordingly, the bench suo motu impleaded the district geologist, Palakkad, in the petition to monitor the measurement procedure and adjourned the matter to Sept 25.