The fears raised by the State Government over the safety of Mullaperiyar dam are aimed at abrogating the water-sharing agreement with Tamil Nadu, AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalaitha has said.
Addressing reporters at the airport en route to Marthandam for attending a party programme on Thursday afternoon, Ms. Jayalalitha said that Kerala's argument that the dam was located on a seismic belt does not hold water. The proposed dam is only 400 metres away from the existing dam and hence comes within the same seismic belt. The dam is only 50 years old and hence is quite safe as experts have pointed out.
Now, water from the dam is used for meeting the drinking and irrigation needs of five districts in Tamil Nadu. These five districts are making substantial contribution to national food security. Any adverse decision will have a direct impact on the food security scheme and also reduce the five districts to a desert. The only intention of Kerala is to abrogate the agreement for 999 years and wrest total control of the dam.
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Referring to the spectrum scam, Ms. Jayalalitha said that the image of the DMK had taken a severe beating owing to the scam. Never before has the world witnessed a scam of such magnitude. Former Telecom Minister A. Raja should be arrested, she said.
She said that she has kept the options open in spurting the UPA Government and it was for them to decide. She raised a party flag outside the airport and greeted the party workers gathered there. "This is the first flag being raised in Kerala and the party will go from strength to strength as in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Puducherry and other places, she said.