The Mullaperiyar Agitation Council has said that Tamil Nadu's efforts to show the Mullaperiyar dam as safe have been exposed with the Supreme Court, on Wednesday, denying it permission to take up annual repairs of the dam.
Tamil Nadu has tried to convey the message that repairs are being done every year and the dam poses no threat, C.P. Roy, chairman of the council, said in a press statement here on Thursday.
He said Tamil Nadu's plea to the court had no meaning, as an expert committee appointed by the Empowered Committee formed by the Supreme Court to go into the dam issue had been conducting studies to analyse the condition of the structure.
He said the Supreme Court, which extended the term of the Empowered Committee by four months to February 29, 2012, had criticised the Union government for delay in appointing experts on the Empowered Committee.
“It cannot be justified that two experts cannot be nominated as demanded by the court, and it was a serious lapse on the part of the government,” he said.
The threat posed by the dam to the lives of people and their concerns should not go unheard. “If it was concerned with the lives of influential persons, the response of the administrative system would have been different,” he said.
Mr. Roy alleged “inaction” by the council of MPs formed by the State government on the issue. If the council members were concerned about the safety of the people, they should have at least influenced the Centre to appoint the two experts. The double standards adopted by responsible persons while in Kerala and in Delhi should be condemned. The MPs should not wait for any opportunity to find a peaceful solution to the issue that affected the lives of people.
