In a startling disclosure, veteran legislator P C George said on Wednesday that politicians belonging to the CPI(M)-led LDF and Congress-led UDF own vast farm houses and plantations in the districts of Dindigal, Theni and Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu which are all irrigated by water drawn from Mullaperiyar Dam.
“This is the reason why they dilly-dally over the demand made by scientists to decommission the 130 year-old Surki dam situated in the border district of Idukki in Kerala.
“The experts drawn out from IIT Delhi were shocked over the safety aspects of the Mullaperiyar Dam and that is why they had called for demolition taking into account the safety of four million people spread across five districts in Kerala,” said George, a seven-time MLA and a one-man army who is Kerala’s lead whistle blower against corruption.
Reacting to recent statements made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Irrigation Minister Roshy Augustine that the dam was safe, George said that five legislative committees have found out after discussions with experts that the dam was on the verge of bursting out.
“This is a surki dam that was built during 1880, the days when there was no cement. The life period of surki is just 50 years and every year the material is washed away by flood waters. You can imagine what would have happened to Mullaperiyar Dam during the last 80 years,” said George while referring to the statements made by Vijayan and Augustine. He also said that less one spoke of the duo’s honesty, the better.
George said C Achutha Menon, the CPI Chief Minister during 1969-1977 was instrumental in giving away the State’s rights over the dam to Tamil Nadu for reasons best known to him only. “Though the Dewan of Travancore C P Ramaswamy Aiyer got the Tamil Nadu Government stop the production of power from the Mullaperiyar waters, it was Menon who squandered the gains made by the former,” said George.
George, a senior BJP leader in Kerala, said the Tamil Nadu Government has the list of all Kerala politicians, bureaucrats and business barons who own plantations and estates in the lower riparian regions of that State.
“If the Kerala politicians go ahead with the move to build a new dam in place of the outdated Mullaperiyar Dam, the Tamil Nadu Government would release their names and that would be the end of the careers of our politicians,” said George.
In a move which could send shocks across the political class in Kerala, George said if here is one person who could make an amicable settlement over the Mullaperiyar Dam, it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“He has all the details associated with the dam. Let him call Vijayan and his Tamil Nadu counterpart M K Stalin for a discussion and the duo would find it difficult to say no to what Modi decides,” said George.
At stake is the safety of four million residents in the districts of Kottayam, Idukki, Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Pathanamthitta.
“Kerala and Tamil Nadu had identified another site 1300 ft downstream of the existing dam to construct a new dam. But Kerala made a hasty retreat when it was time for action and this is a suspicious move,” said George.
