Siruvani: Stalin urges CM to lead all-party delegation

CM not reaching out to Kerala and Centre on the issue, says DMK leader

COIMBATORE, TAMIL NADU 03/09/2016. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam treasurer M.K. Stalin sharing a word with former Minister Pongalur N. Palanisamy during a demonstration organised by the party in Coimbatore on September 03, 2016, to protest against the State government for its failure to take action against the Kerala government's proposal to construct a dam across the Siruvani at Attappady. Photo:J_ Manoharan

DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin has accused the AIADMK government of not doing enough to protect the State’s interest in Siruvani and other inter-State river water disputes.

At a protest meeting here on Saturday opposing the Kerala government’s plan to construct a dam across the Siruvani, Mr. Stalin accused Chief Minister Jayalalithaa of not reaching out to Kerala and Central governments on the issue.

The State should not remain content with passing a unanimous resolution in the Assembly. Reiterating that the State had remained a mute spectator in similar issues like Mekedatu or Palar river disputes, the DMK leader asked the Chief Minister to convene an all-party meeting and lead a delegation to meet the Prime Minister.

“If the Chief Minister is not able to lead the delegation, she should at least depute her senior Ministers so that Tamil Nadu, in unison, could convey its dismay to the Centre over grant of standard terms of reference for conducting an Environment Impact Assessment for the proposed dam across Siruvani river,” he said.

Noting that opposition parties were united on issues concerning the State’s welfare, he said the DMK was willing to rise above partisan politics.

Ties with other States

Mr. Stalin also accused the Chief Minister of not having friendly relations with neighbouring States. “Be it Kerala, Karnataka or Andhra Pradesh, there are no instances of her meeting the Chief Ministers or at least talking to them over phone,” he said.

AIADMK Members of Parliament were least concerned about the State's welfare. They were more interested in singing paeans about their leader in New Delhi. The MLAs too were no different, Mr. Stalin charged. The protest was to caution the Central and State governments that failure to act fast and prevent the Kerala government from constructing the dam across the Siruvani would turn the western districts dry.

Senior party leaders Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan, Pongalur N. Palanisamy, Mu. Kannappan, MLA N. Karthik, former MLA M.P. Saminathan and district secretaries participated in the protest.