Vijayan’s comment on dam criticised

Leaders of the Kerala opposition led by former chief minister Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala yesterday met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and conveyed their concern over the latter’s statement that the leaking Mullaperiyar dam was safe.Addressing reporters at the assembly complex, Chennithala said Vijayan’s statement last week to the Delhi media on the dam had sparked fear in the minds of people in Kerala.“This stand is contrary to the earlier stance of successive Kerala governments that the ‘old’ dam was a serious threat to the safety of the people. It was due to this stance that a unanimous resolution for a new dam was passed in the assembly,” Chennithala stressed.Four resolutions have been passed by the Kerala assembly over the years stating that building of a new dam in place of the Mullaperiyar dam was imperative.“He (Vijayan) said the state government will put in place a team of experts of international repute to study the safety of the dam. While we welcome this stand, we expressed our concern that his statement will be seized upon by Tamil Nadu as they will soon approach the Supreme Court to increase the water level at the dam from 142 feet to 152 feet,” Chennithala felt.Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been at loggerheads over the dam, built under an 1886 accord between the then Maharaja of Travancore and the erstwhile British regime.Though the dam is located in Kerala, it is owned, maintained and operated by Tamil Nadu and Kerala has for long been demanding de-commissioning of the dam that has developed leaks.While the Kerala government has all along been claiming that the dam poses a serious threat to lives and property in five districts of the state taking into account its age, Tamil Nadu wants the height and water storage of the dam to be increased.A Supreme Court directive in May 2014 allowed Tamil Nadu to increase the water level from 136 feet to a maximum of 142 feet.The social media in Tamil Nadu has been all praise for Vijayan ever since he stated that that the dam was safe.However, the chief minister’s party colleague and former chief minister V S Achuthanandan has shot off a letter to the party leadership that Vijayan’s statement was “unwarranted”, and that the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the second biggest constituent of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), was also taken aback by the statement.