Jayalalithaa urges Modi to withdraw MoEF nod for dam across Siruvani

Informing the Prime Minister of the resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Saturday asked him to instruct the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Ministry of Water Resources to immediately withdraw the nod for conducting an Environmental Impact Assessment for a dam across Siruvani river.

Appending the text of the resolution passed unanimously in the Assembly on September 2, she said the Expert Appraisal Committee for River Valley and Hydroelectric Projects of the MoEF in its 96 meeting had recommended grant of Standard Terms of Reference for an EIA study.

‘Unrest among farmers’

Chief Minister in her letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the nod to conduct EIA for the dam across Siruvani has caused great unrest amongst farmers in Tamil Nadu.

‘Unwarranted haste’

The Tamil Nadu Assembly passed the resolution expressing regret over the manner in which the recommendation was made with “unwarranted haste”, and “inaccurately” recording in the minutes of the meeting that the government did not respond to several letters from the MoEF, she said.

The resolution strongly urged the Centre not to accept the recommendations of the 96th meeting of the EAC for grant of Standard ToR for EIA study of the Attapady Valley Irrigation Project.