Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said that his Tamil Nadu counterpart J. Jayalalithaa had different sets of standards for her concerns on the Mullaperiyar Dam and the Kudankulam Nuclear Power project.
Inaugurating the 12th one in his series of mass contact programmes across the State here on Thursday, Mr. Chandy said Ms. Jayalalithaa was citing the safety of her people while opposing the Kudankulam nuclear power project, on which Rs.20,000 crore had already been spent.
However, when it came to the Mullaperiyar Dam issue, she did not appear to have the same concern.
“How can we be blamed then if we say that she is adopting double standards?” he asked, stating that however, Kerala would stand united and strive to achieve its aim, which was ensuring water for the people of Tamil Nadu and safety for the people of Kerala.
Stating that Ms. Jayalalithaa’s letter to the Prime Minister, in which she has clearly misunderstood Kerala’s requests for a disaster management action plan to be put into place, had “hurt” the State’s sentiments, Mr. Chandy said Ms. Jayalalithaa was adopting a “defiant stance” despite repeated assurances from Kerala that her people would continue to receive water from the State.
The State did not want its relations with Tamil Nadu to go sour. At the same time, the panic over the safety of the Mullaperiyar Dam could not be ignored, the Chief Minister said, stating categorically that the panic was not a created one, but one that arose out of natural concerns and developments over the years.
It was a known fact that the Mullaperiyar Dam had outlived its lifespan of 50 years long back and that it was constructed old technology. Even as those concerns existed, a series of earthquakes had set off the alarm bells ringing, he said, reiterating that the panic was not created or something stage-managed by the State.
Union Minister of State K.C. Venugopal, Minister for Forests and Environment K.B. Ganesh Kumar, Kodikunnil Suresh, MP, and P.C. Vishnunath, MLA, were present.
