Tamil Nadu Assembly on Thursday passed a unanimous resolution stating
that under no circumstances would the State give up its rights over the
Mullaperiyar Dam as Chief Minister Jayalalithaa accused Kerala of
adopting ’deceiving’ tactics on the issue.
A one-day special Assembly session convened in the midst of the
heightened tensions between the two States on the dam issue passed the
resolution reasserting the State’s right over the 116-year old dam which
Kerala wants to be demolished to build a new one on safety concerns.
The resolution moved by Ms. Jayalalithaa also pressed for deployment of
Central Industrial Security Force to protect the dam in view of the
‘tense’ situation in both the States.
“This House resolves that under no circumstance will Tamil Nadu give up
its rights (over the dam),” said the resolution. It also asked Kerala to
make suitable amendments to the Kerala Irrigation and Water
Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2006 to increase the water level to 142
feet as allowed by the Supreme Court and not to obstruct Tamil Nadu from
carrying out further strengthening works so as to rise the level to 152
feet in the long term.
New twist
Giving a new twist to the row, Ms. Jayalalithaa said Kerala was
insisting on a new dam in order to generate more hydro-power from the
Idukki Dam and termed as ‘deceiving tactics’ the neighbouring State’s
claim that Tamil Nadu would continue to get the same quantum of water as
at present.
“Kerala government had planned to generate 780 mw of power from Idukki
reservoir. If there is no Mullaperiyar Dam, its entire water will reach
Idukki, allowing power generation”.
“There are doubts that this is the reason for Kerala government’s
mischievous propaganda that the Mullaperiyar Dam is weak,” she said in
her concluding remarks.
Keywords: Mullaperiyar Dam issue, Tamil Nadu Assembly, special session, Chief MInister Jayalalithaa, resolution
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