Kerala steps up pressure for new dam
Setting aside rivalries, ruling Congress-led UDF and opposition LDF in Kerala stepped up the demand for a new dam at Mullaperiyar as water flow into the reservoir here almost touched the maximum permissible storage level of 136 feet on Sunday due to heavy rain in the area. As increased inflow and recurrence of tremors heightened fears about the safety of the 116-year-old dam, the entire political spectrum and local resistance groups protested by blocking roads and called a dawn-to-dusk hartal in Idukkki district on Monday. They wanted TN to accept the proposal to build a new dam and the Centre to mediate for the resolution of the prolonged tiff. The district administration said there was no room for panic but opened three control rooms to monitor the situation and alerted the people living near the dam to remain vigilant.
Two shutters of the dam’s spillways had been opened to allow outflow of excess water since intake by TN had reduced as reservoirs and canals in the adjoining areas in the state were in spate due to heavy rain, official sources here said. State Congress chief Ramesh Chennithala urged PM Manmohan Singh and AICC president Sonia Gandhi to intervene in the issue holding that lives of three million people were at stake. Protesters under the banner of Mullaperiyar Samrakshna Samiti blocked the Kollam-Theni road and burnt TN CM Jayalalithaa’s effigy, sources said.
Meanwhile, a team of scientists conducted inspections in the Mullaperiyar area to ascertain the impact of recent tremors on the safety of the dam. Demanding Centre’s intervention, Kerala Congress (M), a constituent of ruling UDF, said party workers in Idukki, Kottayam, Pathnamthitta, Alapuzha and Ernakulam will be observing fast at the district headquarters, on Monday.
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