Mullaperiyar dam issue: Protesters try to enter Kerala,baton charged

At Cumbum in Tamil Nadu,three small factories owned by Keralites were set ablaze,police said. Additional DGP George and IGP Rajeshdass were camping in the area to monitor the situation.

With both states seeking to turn the heat on each other and mount pressure on the Centre,people from different villages in border areas of Tamil Nadu blocked vehicular traffic on the Cumbum-Mettu road to Kerala for the third day.

Tension in Kerala’s border town of Kumily,however,eased but the area is still under tight security as agitators gathered on the Tamil Nadu side,protesting Kerala’s demand for a new dam in place of the 116-year-old structure.

After remaining shut for the past two days,shops in the town opened but inter-state traffic continued to be blocked on both sides for the third consecutive day,police said.

In Tamil Nadu,DMK stepped up its pressure with party workers staging a day long fast,demanding that the Centre prevail upon Kerala to accept the Supreme Court verdict to raise the water level in the dam from 136 feet to 142 feet.

BJP asks Central ministers from Kerala to quit over dam issue

BJP today demanded that the Central ministers from Kerala resign and undertake fasting in front of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s residence in Delhi over the Mullaperiyar dam issue.

BJP state spokesperson George Kurian accused the Congress-led UPA government of enacting a “drama” on the dam issue,which has triggered a war of words between Kerala and Tamil Nadu in recent weeks.

“Central ministers from Kerala should resign and undertake a ‘satyagraha’ in front of the Prime Minister’s residence” over the issue,he said here.

Kurian alleged that the matter has turned into a “show of strength” by the Kerala Congress(M) and Congress in Central Kerala.

Kerala ministers,who should exercise restraint on the dam issue,were themselves pushing the people “into a state of fear,” he alleged.

Both the UDF and LDF combines were responsible for the Mullaperiyar dam issue,as both the fronts had failed to take any steps to resolve the issue while they were in power in the state,he charged.