Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko, along with about 150 partymen, was arrested at the Amaravathy check-post near Udumalpet on Friday when they tried to enter Kerala in an attempt to visit Marayur, where the Kerala government proposed to construct a dam across the Pambar river.
Mr. Vaiko asked why the Tamil Nadu police was arresting them even before they could go near the border and when there were no objections from Kerala police to any such visits.
Mr. Vaiko said his party plans a symbolic road block at all entry points along the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border on May 28 to prevent essential commodities such as milk and vegetables from flowing into Kerala if the government there decided to go ahead with their plans to construct a dam across Pambar river, which feeds water into Amaravathy river.
“We are opposing the dam project only because the construction of the structure will affect the riparian rights of the farmers alongside Amaravathy river,” he said.
MDMK men pointed out that the Kerala government should understand that Tamil Nadu had been giving them more than 200 MW power through the national grid already and hence no justification for setting up a dam across Pambar for power generation.
Staff Reporter from Coimbatore writes:
Nine MDMK activists, led by former Councillor Krishnasamy, were removed by the police when they attempted to stage a road blockade at Gandhipuram on Friday, following the preventive arrest of Mr. Vaiko.
