The State government has decided to set up a completely modern police station in Mullaperiyar in view of the need to provide security to the dam site.
The State Cabinet on Thursday sanctioned creation of as many as 196 new posts to facilitate running the police station 24/7 headed by an assistant commandant or Deputy Superintendent of Police, besides allocating Rs.85 lakh for purchasing equipment, including surveillance cameras.
The Mullaperiyar dam, reservoir and all the nearby forest areas that have an important role in protecting the dam will come under the purview of the new modern police station.
Replying to questions at a post-Cabinet news briefing here, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said that the decision was taken in the context of a reference to an intelligence report in the Supreme Court during the course of a hearing about security threats to the dam.
The State government and the Central government agencies had not submitted such a report and it is presumed that the report was that of the Tamil Nadu agency.
“There is no security threat as such. Since an agency has expressed an opinion in the apex court, it was the responsibility of the State to take precautionary steps,” he said.
Even though Mr. Chandy did not explicitly state it, it is clear that the State government’s decision is driven primarily by Tamil Nadu petition in the Supreme Court seeking deployment of the Central Industrial Security Force in Mullaperiyar.
“We have envisaged a police station and this will be located in Thekkady,” he said.
