The border districts in Tamil Nadu faced tense moments on the Mullai Periyar Dam issue, since the last few days. Neither the Tamil Nadu government nor the Kerala governments are compromising in any form on the issue. The MP Dam has been a bone of contention between the both otherwise friendly states. The MP Dam in Kerala irrigates the Tamil Nadu lands as per the 1886 accord between the then Maharaja of Travancore and the erstwhile British Raj. The various issues that unfolded, on the day have been listed below for the reader enrichment, as the day unraveled.
In Theni, police detained Marumalarchi DMK (MDMK) Supremo Vaiko while he was leading the protest. Protests were also held at Kanyakumari, Coimbatore and the Nilgiris. Vaiko has been demanding for deploying Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel at MP Dam as its protection by the Kerala police would not be a foolproof one. Vaiko and Tamil Nationalist Movement President P Nedumaran, among 1,000 people, were arrested, when they attempted to block the Cumbum-Kumuli Road leading to Kerala, to protest against Kerala Government’s stand on MP Dam issue. Meanwhile, more than 5,000 farmers and people were staging a demonstration at Cumbum.
In Coimbatore normal life was affected in the district as almost all the shops downed their shutters in support of the bandh call given by the MDMK and other political outfits to ensure justice to Tamil Nadu on the MP Dam issue and to condemn the Kerala Government for spreading false rumors over the safety of the dam.
At Chennai the Chief Minister Jayalalithaa expressed shock over the expert team constituted by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to formulate a contingency response plan for the MP Dam. She wrote a letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging him to withdraw the team. She said when the matter was pending before the Supreme Court and the Empowered Committee formed by the Apex court was looking into various aspects, including the safety of the dam, the constitution of a team of experts by the NDMA was unwarranted. She also said, this is nothing but succumbing to the subterfuge of government of Kerala and to present a fait accompli to the Supreme Court and the empowered committee constituted by it.
At Madurai, lawyers were held for stopping train services from Kerala. The lawyers affiliated to Madurai Bar Association, led by its President P Dharmaraj and Secretary A K Ramasamy took out a rally from the District Court complex to the railway junction. They barged into the railway station, sat on the railway track and blocked the Guruvayur-Chennai Egmore Express Train. They also hoisted a black flag atop the engine of the train and raised slogans against the Kerala government. Police rushed to the railway station and arrested the agitators, after which the train left for Chennai.
Situation has to be brought under control by the ruling parties of both the states. Otherwise there will be economical blockages on either side, which inturn will affect the entire nation.
