JOIN US“Presidential intervention is the most feasible course now as Tamil Nadu Government has declined to come forward for talks,” SRP working chairman Akkamvila Salim said in a statement.
The ruling and the opposition parties in Kerala had also failed to act resolutely on the issue and all that they had done was to wash their hands off by seeking Central intervention, he said.
Several recent studies had shown that the 116-year-old dam was extremely weak and in the event of its collapse lives of about 3.5 million people living in downstream districts would be in danger, he claimed.
The water from Mullaperiyar dam has been vital for over one crore people in five districts of Tamil Nadu for decades and they should not gloss over the danger faced by their brothers in Kerala, he said.
Resolving the dispute amicably was extremely important for people of both states who were bound by strong historical and cultural links, Salim added.
Shops and business establishments in five districts of South Tamil Nadu, benefited by the waters of the Mullaperiyar Dam over which the state is locked in a raging row with Kerala, downed shutters in response to a bandh call given by traders’ outfits and local chambers of commerce.
The protest is to condemn Kerala’s insistence on demolishing the 116-year-old dam which provides water for irrigation to the districts of Madurai, Theni, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga and Dindigul, traders said. Police said the shutdown was total in all the five districts. Cinema houses also remained closed. However, petrol stations were open.
Meanwhile, shop owners in some areas of Erode district downed shutters, demanding that Centre advise Kerala to abide by the Supreme Court order on raising the dam level to 142 feet. Trade sources said cattle for slaughter and poultry to be transported to Kerala remained unsold with no buyers from the neighbouring state visiting the markets.
The dam issue has escalated in recent days in the midst of an unending war of words between leaders of both states over Kerala’s insistence on demolishing the dam, located in Idukki district, citing safety concerns which, Tamil Nadu strongly opposes.