Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Thursday criticised the Union government for maintaining silence on her letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the Mullaperiyar dam issue.
In her first letter written 20 days ago, she urged him to advise the Kerala government not to raise the new dam proposal as that government had, for political reasons, created panic among people of Kerala over the safety of the dam when the petition filed by the Tamil Nadu government, challenging the validity of the Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2006, was pending before the Supreme Court and Empowered Committee.
In her second letter, she sought the deployment of Central Industrial Security Force at the Mullaperiyar dam site. Referring to her letters in her concluding remarks on the debate on her resolution in the Assembly, Ms Jayalalithaa said the Prime Minister, as usual, had been keeping silent for her second letter. She renewed her appeal to him to ensure that the CISF was sent to the Mullaperiyar dam site.
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Quoting a report prepared by environmentalist Drupajyothi Ghosh which was filed by the Kerala government in the Supreme Court in connection with the ongoing case, the Chief Minister said that as the water spread area had shrunk following the reduction of the dam's level from 152 ft to 136 ft, houses and a bus terminus had been constructed and farming and eco development activities were going on over the area. This had demonstrated the admission of the Kerala government that on water spread areas leased to the Tamil Nadu government, various kinds of encroachment had taken place. Panruti S. Ramachandran, Deputy Leader of Opposition and Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam leader, wanted the State government to urge the Centre to bring in an ordinance for the takeover of the dam site and surrounding areas for the purposes of management, control and ownership of the dam.
M.K. Stalin, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam floor leader, said that even after several rounds of talks, the Kerala government was not willing to come forward for a political settlement. There was no respect for opinions of experts' committees and order of the Supreme Court.
K. Balakrishnan, Communist Party of India (Marxist) whip, referred to news reports that the Prime Minister had said that the approval of the Kerala government was needed for the deployment of Central forces. This position was not acceptable, the CPI (M) leader said.
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S. Gunasekaran, CPI deputy leader, said the slogan of the Kerala government — “water for Tamil Nadu and safety for people of Kerala — would be an empty slogan if the water level was reduced to 120 ft. J. Guru (Pattali Makkal Katchi) demanded that Peermedu and Devikulam be merged with the State to resolve the dam dispute.
M.H. Jawahirullah (Manithaneya Makkal Katchi) suggested that an all party delegation, led by the Chief Minister, call on the Prime Minister to press the case of Tamil Nadu. N.R. Rengarajan (Congress) and R. Sarath Kumar (All India Samuthuva Makkal Katchi) were among those who spoke.