UDF members remarks put government in a spot

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as the government reiterated its commitment that a new dam in Mullaperiyar is the right of the state, certain remarks made by Congress MLAs M A Wahid and A P Abdullakutty during the question hour in the Assembly on Thursday resulted in heated exchanges between the Treasury and Opposition benches.  Water Resources Minister P J Joseph told the House that the high-powered committee on Mullaperiyar had submitted a Feasibility Report and Detailed Project Report for the construction of a new dam with an outlay of  `663 crore. He presented the details of  the dam break analysis test conducted by IIT, Roorkee, which is over in the stretch from Mullaperiyar to Idukki dams.“In the event of a dam break, the water level will rise up to 40 metres near the Mullaperiyar dam and 20.85 metres in the Idukki dam area. Around 32,500 people of  8,941 families will be affected and 69 shelters will be needed to rehabilitate them. Each shelter will cost `35 lakh according to IIT Roorkee estimates,” he said. “Not even a single acre of forests will be submerged if a new dam is built. Only an environmental clearance for around 50 hectares which comes in between the existing and new dam was needed. This has to receive the Prime Minister’s clearance,’’ he said.Abdullakutty’s poser at this stage as to whether any studies had been conducted on measures that should be in place at Mullaperiyar in the likelihood of a dam disaster, put the UDF, especially Joseph and Revenue Minister Thiruvanachoor Radhakrishnan, in the dock.The remarks of M A Wahid that “all political parties in the state are screaming that the dam will burst now and that the campaign in Tamil Nadu is that Kerala is going to demolish the Mullaperiyar dam” saw the Opposition voicing its protest.While P J Joseph termed the comments of  the two members as against the spirit of  the House, Thiruvanchoor expressed his dismay at the remarks which he said came at a time when the Revenue Department was making earnest attempts under the Disaster Management Authority to create greater awareness in the state about the issue.Sunny Joseph (Congress) reminded that any attempt to ignite sentiments on the dam issue would lead to opposite results.Intervening in the issue, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said that none needs to have any doubts about Kerala’s united stance to set up a new dam in Mullaperiyar. “The Assembly held a day’s session on the Mullaperiyar dam issue and had passed an unanimous resolution. The Governor had appreciated the united stance of the House. A new dam in Mullaperiyar is not only a demand, but a right,” he said.However, Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan flayed the stance of the UDF members and also took the Revenue Minister to task. Alleging that the Advocate-General had submitted facts in favour of Tamil Nadu in the High Court on the directive of the Revenue Minister, the Opposition leader said it is to be suspected that the latter was bypassing the cause of Kerala on the Mullaperiyar issue.V T Balram, R Rajesh, K Radhakrishnan, A Pradeep Kumar, K Kunhiraman, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and  C P Mohammed participated.