Dam row: Tension mounts in Kerala-TN borders

Monday, December 12, 2011: Toughening its posture further, Jayalalithaa government on Sunday convened a special assembly session on December 15 to assert its right on the Mullaperiyar dam issue as tension rose on the border town of Kumili with protestors from Tamil Nadu threatening to cross into Kerala.
As the stridency grew on both sides, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced the session, asserting the state would not give up its rights over Mullaperiyar due to ‘imaginary threats’ on its safety and security raised by Kerala.
The Tamil Nadu government’s move comes two days after a special sesson of the Kerala assembly passed a unanimous resolution demanding construction of a new dam to replace the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam.
Jayalalithaa said the solution lies in presenting sound technical and scientific data to the Supreme Court and convincing it about the “justness of our stand.”
“With regard to the present issue, neither my people nor I and my government have got anything against the people of Kerala or their government. We have no quarrel with the people of Kerala,” she said.
With tempers running high on both sides in the districts of Idukki in Kerala where the dam is located and Theni in Tamil Nadu, she urged people not to get carried away emotionally and precipitate the situation and to disperse immediately.
“… destroying their (Keralites’ in Tamil Nadu) property or causing injury to them and in the process also causing ourselves pain and hardship is not a solution,” she said.

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