For S. Sukanya, a student of the Government Higher Secondary School for Girls, Cotton Hill, here, the Mullaperiyar dam is a clear and present danger. Her family is at Granby, near Vandiperiyar, an area which may be deluged if the dam fails.
As such the signature campaign on the Mullaperiyar issue conducted by the National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers at her school was to her a silent plea to save her family.
The students of the school organised a signature campaign here on Wednesday requesting the government to take the necessary steps to save the lives of the people living near the dam. The students succeeded in collecting more than 1,000 signatures from students and teachers over the last three days. These, along with a letter, will be sent to the Chief Minister on Thursday.
As the volunteers gathered around to discuss the next task for the completion of the campaign, Sukanya was being consoled by her friend G. Athira. When she heard in the class that the area where her family lived would be hit if the dam suffered any damage, Sukanya broke down.
“Why is the government not taking any steps? What will happen to my family,” said Sukanya wiping her tears.
“We are concerned about the fate of the people living near the Mullaperiyar dam. They should not suffer for something in which they have no role. We wanted to extend our support to them because it is our social responsibility,” said Keerthana Mannayam, an NSS volunteer at the school.
“When the lives of so many people are at stake, there is no room for any discussion or debate. We organised the campaign as soon as we could.”
According to the teacher-in-charge of the campaign Asha Prabhakaran, the students were eager to participate in the campaign so that they could show their support to the children living in the danger zone.
The students have also decided to approach the students of the lower classes to motivate them to initiate similar campaigns, she said.
