The dawn-to-dusk shutdown on Thursday in Kerala’s Idukki district, called to protest the Supreme Court’s Wednesday verdict on the Mullaperiyar dam case which effectively went against Kerala’s interests, evoked total response even as the State Government decided to hold an all-party meeting on May 12 to discuss the judgement.
Shops and commercial establishments in the mountainous district, drenched in the unexpected heavy summer rains, remained closed on Thursday even as public vehicles kept off the roads. The shutdown was called by the Anti-Mullaperiyar Dam Agitation Council, outfit of the people facing the threat posed by the 118-year-old dam, and the Congress-led UDF.
The State Government had tightened the security in the Idukki villages bordering Tamil Nadu by deploying a large number of police personnel on the basis of reports of the possibility of deterioration in law and order situation. The region had seen skirmishes between people from Kerala and Tamil Nadu over the dam issue back in 2011.
The Government on Thursday decided to convene an all-party meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday to discuss the Supreme Court verdict in the dam case and to decide on the steps to be taken in the context of the legal setback the State had suffered due to it. The Opposition lDF has demanded an emergency session of the State Assembly to discuss the matter.