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Mullaperiyar water row on the road
DMK blocks roads to Kerala.
BY OUR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
November 28, 2006
The water row has spilled over to the highways. Even as Tamil Nadu and Kerala are fighting it out on who is
right and who is wrong, DMK men and farmers in Tamil Nadu blocked all roads leading to Kerala.
This meant that all essential commodities that flow in to Kerala were stopped on the road and left to rot.
The DMK men went on doing all things possible to vent their ire against Kerala. First they stopped vehicles
by blocking roads, then they resorted to stone a few Kerala State-run interstate buses inside Tamil
Nadu. Outcome: The common man was left to bear the brunt. The Coimbatore-Plakaad and Trivandrum–Kanya
Kumari highways saw a pile up of buses and trucks.
The blockade followed immediately after the sensitive Mullapperiyar dam issue began spilling over. The
issue reached a flash point after Kerala sent a team of Navy divers to inspect the dam on Thursday.
Tamil Nadu was not prepared to give Kerala the upper hand though. Calling the act unlawful, Chief Minister
Muthuvel Karunanidhi threatened to boycott the meeting scheduled to be held on 29 November with his
Kerala counterpart V S Achuthanandan to resolve dam issue.
Achuthandan, clearly sending signals that he is no push over, has rubbished Karunanidhi’s stance. We
have all the right to inspect our dam feels the Kerala administration.
Tamil Nadu’s stance that the dam level needed to be raised from 136 ft to 142 ft so that it could get water
to irrigate five of its southern districts won’t be bought by Kerala. Citing the safety of the lives of the people,
Water Resources Minister N K Premachandran has categorically stated that Kerala would provide water to
the TN districts, but can’t raise the height of the dam. Kerala believes that the 110-year-old dam built with
traditional building substances may be rendered weak if more construction takes place.
The Centre, meanwhile, is in a fix. DMK is an ally. The Left is a supporter for the government. Tail Nadu
belongs to the DMK and Kerala to the Left. Mullaperiyar in effect becomes nobody’s , but yet everyone
needs to have a say in it. For, every government knows, populist measures come easily if a water issue is
cited. DMK knows that better.
The November 29 meeting between VS and Karunanidhi is being looked at as the most important event of
the coming days. Prime Minsiter Singh too looks forward to the outcome hoping that a solution is reached
at. For, he knows his headache doesn’t just end at that.
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