Jawan of Vellimala has echoes of the Mullaperiyar dam controversy; here, unfortunately, the conspiracy theory feels a bit too stretched, says Paresh C Palicha.
In this interview with Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier, Prof Janakarajan speaks about the win-win situation for both Tamil Nadu and Kerala while strongly maintaining that a new dam will be an environmental disaster.
The heavy rains led to water level in various dams in the state rising to the red alert mark, prompting the government to open one of the shutters of Cheruthoni dam of Idukki reservoir in the afternoon.
The two-member technical panel comprising CD Thatte and DK Mehta had recently surveyed the dam site after Kerala expressed concerns over safety in the wake of recent tremors in the area
Maintaining that a Supreme Court appointed panel on Mullaperiyar Dam had accepted Kerala's demand for a new reservoir, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Friday said the state, which is locked in a row with Tamil Nadu on the issue, would bring it to the court's notice.
Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan, revenue minister in the United Democratic Front cabinet in Kerala, has been in the midst of the Mullaperiyar dam row. Radhakrishnan was serving as the irrigation minister when he met and negotiated with O Paneerselvam, the representative of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. In an interview with rediff.com's Shobha Warrier, minutes after holding an emergency meeting in Thiruvavananthapuram, Radhakrishnan talks about the escalating feud.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Wednesday took strong exception to the National Disaster Management Authority forming a team of experts to draw up a contingency response plan for the Mullaperiyar Dam, saying it was nothing but "succumbing to the subterfuge" of Kerala.
Union Minister Vayalar Ravi on Sunday slammed his colleague and Home Minister P Chidambaram for his remarks on the Mullaperiyar Dam, calling them as "unfortunate" and said they only showed his "political immaturity".
As tension escalated on the inter-state border town of Kumily over the Mullaperiyar dam issue, protestors on the Tamil Nadu side on Sunday threw slippers at Finance Minister O Panneerselvam and gheraoed him.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday discussed with his senior Cabinet colleagues the Mullaperiyar dam issue over which Tamil Nadu and Kerala have been at loggerheads.
Coming out against the report of the Supreme Court-appointed Empowered Committee on Mullaperiyar dam, over which Kerala and Tamil Nadu are at loggerheads, Communist Party of India-Marxist veteran V S Achuthanandan on Monday said it was "unilateral and in favour of Tamil Nadu".
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Friday told DMK supremo M Karunanidhi that Tamilians living in Kerala are "totally safe" and that the apprehensions voiced by him in this regard in the wake of tension between the two states over the Mullaperiyar dam issue were "unfounded".
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Sunday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to advise Kerala not to build a new dam across Mullaperiyar and sought a financial package for the state.
Three songs from the film have been singled out for the Original Song category.
Terming the Kerala government's apprehension over safety of the Mullaperiyar dam as "unnecessary", Home Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday claimed it was borne out of "bypoll fear".
The Supreme Court on Thursday said the Prime Minister was the "most suitable authority" to hammer out a solution to vexed water disputes like Mullaperiyar dam row and wanted to appeal for his intervention but refrained from doing so after Tamil Nadu objected to it.
Kerala politicians led by Chief Minister Ommen Chandy on Wednesday knocked the doors of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking his immediate intervention in persuading Tamil Nadu to settle the Mullaperiyar dam issue.
Assuring that the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam was safe, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Tuesday appealed to the people of Kerala not to succumb "to the mechanisations of ill-wishers and unscrupulous mischief mongers".
Seeking arrest of those instigating people over Mullaperiyar dam issue in Kerala and Tamil Nadu under National Security Act, Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy on Monday asked Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to hold talks with the neighbour in the overall welfare of the two states.
With the row over the Mullaperiyar dam escalating, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Friday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who directed him to meet Water Resources Minister Pawan Bansal for further discussions on the issue.
Seeking to calm passions over Mullaperiyar Dam issue, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday wrote to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa saying nothing should be said or done to create "undue alarm" and hoped the issue would be sorted out amicably through dialogue.
With the standoff between Kerala and Tamil Nadu on the Mullaperiyar dam issue escalating, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday.
Tamil Nadu government on Thursday banned Dam 999 with immediate effect after the movie faced a storm of protests from various political parties which claim the controversial film is based on the Mullaperiyar dam, over which the state is locked in an escalating row with Kerala.
The Empowered Committee on the controversial Mullaperiyar Dam issue on Wednesday submitted its report to the Supreme Court in a sealed cover which would be examined by a Constitution Bench.
Kerala on Friday told the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee on Mullaperiyar Dam issue that it was agreeable to formation of an independent committee for regulation of waters if a new dam is built, while Tamil Nadu rejected the move to build a new structure outright.
Despite Tamil Nadu's objections, a Supreme Court-appointed Empowered Committee on Mullaperiyar Dam issue on Monday asked the state and Kerala to file their response by Friday on the ownership mechanism of a new dam, if built in place of the existing structure.
Karunanidhi submitted to Singh, who is on a two-day visit to the state, a memorandum, accusing Kerala of having created a situation where "people of Tamil Nadu and Kerala have been instigated to fight against each other like people of two different countries."
Prohibitory orders are in force due to tense situation in the wake of the row between Tamil Nadu and Kerala on the 116-year-old dam, which has escalated in recent days. Kerala wants demolition of the dam citing safety concerns while Tamil Nadu is opposed to it.
Tension prevailed on Monday on Tamil Nadu's borders with Kerala over the Mullaperiyar dam issue, with the police baton charging over 4,000 people who tried to forcibly enter Kerala even as key United Progressive Alliance ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam attacked the Centre, asking it to "at least now" take a timely decision to resolve the escalating row between the two states.
Seeking to assert Tamil Nadu's rights over Mullaperiyar dam, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Sunday said a special assembly session would be convened on December 15 to pass a resolution that the state will not give up rights over it due to 'imaginary threats' on its safety and security.
Tension gripped Lower Camp area on Tamil Nadu's border with Kerala on Saturday as over 4,000 villagers of the district took out a march protesting against alleged attacks on Tamils in Kumily in the neighbouring state in the wake of the escalation of the row over Mullaperiyar dam.
Ratcheting up its pressure in the snowballing Mullaperiyar dam row with Tamil Nadu, the Kerala Assembly on Friday unanimously passed a resolution insisting on a new dam to replace the 116-year old reservoir.
The Mullaperiyar Dam issue generated heat in Parliament on Wednesday with members from Tamil Nadu and Kerala clashing in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Members from Kerala and Tamil Nadu clashed in the Rajya Sabha over the Mullaperiyar Dam controversy, seeking Centre's intervention in resolving the contentious issue.
Stepping in to defuse the crisis, the Centre on Monday invited senior officials from Tamil Nadu and Kerala for discussions on the Mullaperiyar Dam issue even as the Supreme Court-appointed empowered panel decided to send a two-member team to the site for an on-the-spot assessment.
The committee headed by former Chief Justice of India A S Anand is expected to submit its report on the controversial issue by February, 2012.
The Kerala government on Friday informed the state high court that at least 450 families living near the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar Dam area would be evacuated to safer places soon.
Seeking urgent initiative by the Centre on the vexed Mullaperiyar dam issue, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday and stress on the importance of holding early talks between the state and Tamil Nadu to defuse the crisis.Chandy will leave for New Delhi on Thursday afternoon to meet the prime minister. A special meeting of the state cabinet late on Wednesday night decided to convene an urgent one-day sitting of the assembly.
As the row over the Mullaperiyar dam hotted up, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Wednesday sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention asking him to advise Kerala government not to whip up fear among its people for political mileage and said the dam is "safe and as good as new".
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