Chief minister J. Jayalalithaa said on Saturday that the state government’s stand on the Mullaperiyar dam has been vindicated by the Supreme Court appointed empowered committee’s report, which vouched for the safety of the dam.
“That is what we have been saying all along,” she told reporters in New Delhi, before attending the chief ministers’ meeting on NCTC.
The five-member SC committee, headed by former Chief Justice of India A. S. Anand, had said “the dam is hydrologically, structurally and seismically safe” and asked Kerala to reconsider its decision to decommission the existing dam and build a new one.
DMK president M Karunanidhi said the SC report echoed the view held by the state government for long. He, however, would not say if it was a victory to Tamil Nadu or Kerala.
“There is no war happening between the two states and this is not a matter of victory or loss. It is only a matter of upholding of our rights,” he told reporters.
Welcoming the report, MDMK general secretary Vaiko said Kerala should now realize that the dam is safe and drop its move to build a new dam.
“At least now the people of Kerala should ignore the unjust plans of the political parties in the state and realise that there is no threat to the dam,” he said.