New Delhi: In a dramatic twist to the dam row, Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan on Tuesday dragged late chief minister M G Ramachandran into the Mullaperiyar conflict.
Achuthanandan has claimed that MGR had assured the then central government that the water level of the dam would not be increased above 136 feet.
The Chief Minister also had a copy of the letter written by MGR to then prime minister Charan Singh, which he released at a press conference at Thiruvananthapuram.
In the letter MGR had said that he would take immediate steps to strengthen the dam. The letter was written in reply to a letter by Charan Singh that said that urgent action was needed to strengthen the dam.
An excerpt from Ramachandran's letter goes as follows: "After discussions with government of Kerala and Tamil Nadu officials, certain proposals have been made for the immediate strengthening of the dam for provision of additional spilling capacity and for keeping the reservoir level at 136 feet."
Achuthanandan said he would use the letter as evidence if the dam issue was dragged to the Supreme Court. He also said that Tamil Nadu's claim that the dam had been strengthened was dubious as was evident from the leakage there.
According to a PTI report, Achuthanandan reiterated that the Karunanidhi government was under "political pressure" from AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa and MDMK leader Vaiko to increase the height of the dam.
Earlier, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Karunanidhi had decided to pull out of the Mullaperiyar talks.
"It appeared that Karunanidhi was forced to withdraw from talks due to the pressure put on him by Jayalalithaa and Vaiko disregarding the Supreme Court observation and the mediation efforts of the Centre," Achuthanandan told PTI.
Comments
0 comment