: The Mullaperiyar Agitation Council on Monday demanded that the new government in Kerala should take up the Mullaperiyar issue in all seriousness as a new government under Jayalalithaa had come to power in Tamil Nadu.
In a press release issued here, agitation council chairman C.P. Roy said the strike would continue till a final solution to the vexed issue was
found. He said some farmers' organisations in Tamil Nadu had held public demonstrations and expressed victory as Ms. Jayalalithaa had openly expressed her opinion against a new dam in Mullaperiyar. Mr. Roy said there were concerted attempts to depict the issue as a water dispute between the two States. “It is not a water dispute but a complex issue that posed a threat to the life of people living in the downstream of the century-old dam,” the statement said and added that in view of the seriousness of the issue, the Chief Minister in Kerala should maintain the charge of water resources.
The high-power expert committee appointed by the Supreme Court will take a decision before October 30 and it is hoped that a final solution to the issue would be in the larger interests of the people, it said.
The statement said the agitation had completed four years and there was no going back on the demand for a new dam in place of the Mullaperiyar dam.
The relay hunger strike at Karuntharuvi Chappathu, near here, entered 1,605 days on Monday.
