Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Vaiko on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to drop the proposed Dam Safety Bill saying it could affect Tamil Nadu with the state locked in a dispute with Kerala over Mullaiperiyar Dam.
Asserting that the safety of its people is of utmost importance, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Friday said the state does not have any "secret agenda" to pursue in the Mullaperiyar dam issue.
Voicing Kerala's readiness to walk the extra mile to resolve the Mullaperiyar Dam row, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said he was even willing to enter into a tripartite agreement and enact a law assuring Tamil Nadu that it will get "same quantity" of water from the new dam.
The police on Tuesday lathicharged hundreds of people at the state border town of Gudalur when they forcibly tried to enter Kerala, demanding adequate protection to the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar Dam, over which both Tamil Nadu and Kerala are locked in a row. According to the police, the crowd pelted stones at them and tried to force their way past a security cordon and go across to Kerala, prompting them to use batons.
Moving the submission on the issue at the outset, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy it was unfortunate that Tamil Nadu had not taken into due account the anxieties and fears of Kerala arising out of the existing dam, even in the backdrop of frequent tremors in the area.
The Kerala high court on Wednesday directed the state government to file a written statement within 48 hours on the disaster management steps being taken anticipating threat to the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam.
The Tamil Nadu government banned Dam 999, claiming that the film was about the contentious issue of Mullaperiyar dam and delivered a message in favour of Kerala.
Tamil Nadu on Monday suffered a setback with a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court refusing to concede the state's plea for scrapping the high- high-level empowered committee set up to examine the legal and safety aspects of the Mullaperiyar dam in Kerala.
Ernakulam district authorities on Tuesday said 350 cumecs of the water from Idamalayar, which reached Periyar river but there was no considerable rise in the water-level.
He appealed to Kerala to extend cooperation to store full water in the Mullaiperiyar dam.
'There is no other way but approaching the Supreme Court and the state government should immediately take steps on this'.
The talks are scheduled to be in New Delhi on November 29.
Addressing a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, Premachandran said the minister's reply to a question from two Kerala MPs in Parliament that the dam was owned and operated by Tamil Nadu was not "fully correct."
Tamil Nadu will not permit the Kerala government to construct a dam across the Mullaperiyar dam, Chief Minister M Karunandhi said on Wednesday.
Karat told reporters that his party wanted an amicable settlement on the issue.
The two states are sharply divided over the height of the dam in Idukki district of Kerala.
Claims over leadership became the focal point at the former All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremo J Jayalalithaa's death anniversary event held in Chennai on Sunday with the main opposition party in Tamil Nadu, led by O Panneerselvam and K Palaniswami, asserting that it is a 'fortress' that cannot be shaken by anyone.
Given the intensity of the rain, at least a third of this crisis could have been averted, had Tamil Nadu heeded Kerala's requests.
Interlinking of rivers, retrieval of Katchatheevu island and inclusion of fishermen in the Scheduled Tribes list are also listed in the memorandum.
Amid the opposition UDF's sloganeering against him, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Friday delivered the customary address to the assembly with the policy document outlining the Left government's administrative achievements and criticising the Centre for allegedly pushing the state to financial constraints by reducing its resource allocations.
The decision to suspend the operations was taken after shutters of the Idamalayar and Cheruthoni dams, part of Idukki reservoir, were opened on Tuesday evening to release excess water.
Chaired by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha and attended by chiefs of the three services, secretaries of home, defence and others, the National Crisis Management Committee took stock of the prevailing situation in Kerala and directed all concerned to ensure continued assistance to the state government to meet the crisis, a home ministry spokesperson said.
The Southern Naval command on Wednesday called off its 14-day long rescue operations in flood-hit Kerala, saying there were no more requests for evacuation as waters receding in affected areas.
One man was killed and two others injured in Thrissur district on Tuesday after an uprooted tree fell on them in heavy rains and strong winds.
106 people died on a single day on Thursday.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Tuesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and did not rule out the support of her party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam to his government in the Rajya Sabha where the ruling National Democratic Alliance is in a minority.
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam led by Vaiko on Monday decided to quit the National Democratic Alliance in Tamil Nadu alleging that the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre was acting against Tamils and betrayed the people of the state.
Following his appeal, people from various walks of life including women and children had donated even their gold jewels and meagre savings to help the flood-affected people.
Biju Ramesh's campaign may be different from what voters in Kerala are used to. But he is determined to do things his way... or rather, Amma's way.
The situation in the state was 'extremely grave', said Vijayan, who spoke to Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and Home minister, Rajnath Singh, this morning seeking more central assistance for relief operations.
In these dark, divisive times, Ajitha's humanity gives us cause for hope.
N Sathiya Moorthy explains how the recent floods may complicate the Cauvery issue among Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala
The situation is unlike any other legislation/ordinance that governments at the Centre and states had passed on earlier occasions after the higher judiciary had held certain laws, orders or decisions ultra vires of the Constitution, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Two decisions handed down by the Supreme Court have spread gloom in Kerala as they have shaken two basic faiths of a majority of the people in the state, says T P Sreenivasan.
The jallikattu issue has revived pan-Tamil political sentiments especially among youths, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The history of the Cauvery and Mullaperiyar cases has shown how helpless the constitutional processes and judicial verdicts have been in enforcing the law of the land in inter-state and state-Centre disputes, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Now that Tamil Nadu's tallest politician is no more, it remains to be seen how new political re-alignments could shape up, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Amma will wait for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'honeymoon' with the voter to fade away before deciding on the issues that are of real concern to the state and others that may need a considered and balanced solution, say N Sathiya Moorthy and M Kasinathan
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