Mullaperiyar dam repair works: AIADMK questions CM Stalin’s silence on Kerala govt stand

Panneerselvam, who is known as a man who led the then ruling party, AIADMK, to the BJP alliance after J Jayalalithaa’s death, was targeting the friendship between DMK and CPM and their warm gestures that both parties have been exhibiting publicly.

If Kerala CM Vijayan was one of the chief guests at Stalin’s autobiography release held in Chennai, Vijayan was called on stage as the “father of Modern Kerala”. Vijayan who usually follow strict austerity measures in praising others, was also seen reading out a speech that generously praised the entire political life of Stalin at the function. If KK Shailaja, the former health minister of Kerala, was the chief guest of a recent Women’s Day function organised by DMK MP and Stalin’s sister Kanimozhi in Chennai, Stalin may be attending a Kerala event soon as part of the CPM’s upcoming national conference in Kannur.

Asking the CM to condemn Kerala’s attitude, Panneerselvam said it was not only Stalin, but even the Left parties in Tamil Nadu are also tight-lipped on the issue. “If this continues, Tamil Nadu will have to plead with Kerala for approval to ordinary maintenance works at the dam site,” Panneerselvam said.

What has triggered the latest controversy was a seemingly confusing decision by Kerala last November to cancel permission to Tamil Nadu to initiate some repair works at the Mullaperiyar dam site. The Vijayan government also suspended a chief wildlife warden for allegedly preparing the initial order granting permission for the repair works.

In the letters sent to the Kerala government, Tamil Nadu PWD Minister Dubai Murugan had sought restoring permission for the repair works. Murugan, a veteran DMK leader from the Karunanidhi era, had pointed out that Kerala’s water resources and forest departments were delaying the permission to carry the materials and machinery to the dam site even as the proposed repair works were to be done as per the guidelines of Central Water Commission and in compliance with the orders of the Supreme Court.

While the water from Mullaperiyar is a crucial source for Tamil Nadu farmers living in Madurai, Dindigul, Theni, Sivagangai and Ramanathapuram districts for irrigation as well as drinking needs, a statement by Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, too, kicked up a controversy in mid-February. In his Assembly speech, Khan had stated that they would go ahead with the plan and talk with Tamil Nadu to build a new dam in Mullaperiyar, raising the “safety” angle again.

Governor Khan’s statement was strongly condemned by the Tamil Nadu government, terming it an “arbitrary decision” and “contrary to the decision taken by the Supreme Court in May 2014 in an order.”