E-Paper
Din in Kerala house on Mullaperiyar tree felling order
Moving an adjournment motion, Kerala Congress leader Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan said it was a serious issue and asked how the officials issued the permission without the notice of the government. He further said the government had frozen the controversial order, but was yet to cancel it, which points towards a conspiracy.
The Kerala assembly on Monday witnessed a huge protest against the CPI (M)-led government’s decision to allow Tamil Nadu to cut trees near the Baby dam in Mullaperiyar, which was later revoked, with the Congress-led Opposition seeking a judicial inquiry into the ‘flip-flop’ and a response from chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Moving an adjournment motion, Kerala Congress leader Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan said it was a serious issue and asked how the officials issued the permission without the notice of the government. He further said the government had frozen the controversial order, but was yet to cancel it, which points towards a conspiracy.
Vijayan continued his silence and left it to state forest minister A K Saseendran to defend the government’s decision and the revocation later. The minister reiterated that it was a lapse on the part of some forest officials, and they will be dealt with firmly. “There is no change in the government’s position on Mullaperiyar – safety for Kerala and water for Tamil Nadu. The state assembly had passed a unanimous resolution in 2014 on this, and there is no dilution,” said Saseendran.
The minister also said the government was inquiring into circumstances that led to the issue of such an order and assured agitated members that action will be taken against responsible officers. He explained that it came to the notice of the government only after Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin sent a letter to Vijayan thanking him for the permission.
In response, opposition leader V D Satheesan said the government was making officials a scapegoat to get away from severe embarrassment. “Even a small child knows it well that an official can’t issue such an order without the knowledge of the political leadership. The government is trying to hide its lapses, and we need a judicial inquiry into this,” he said.
“This will not happen without the knowledge of the CM. He has to shed his silence,” said BJP state president K Surendran.
However, Speaker M B Rajesh ruled that since the minister explained the position, there was no need for an adjournment motion. Angry opposition members later staged a walkout raising slogans that the government sacrificed the state’s interests.
Two neighbouring states have been fighting over the 126-year-old dam for more than two decades. The issue came to light again after torrential rains claimed many lives in the Idukki district last month.
Tamil Nadu said it was routine for Kerala to trigger panic, but the latter cited unusual rain patterns and recurring calamities in the state to prove its point. Political parties on both sides have whipped up the emotional issue unmindful of panic triggered downstream of the dam.
The dam is built in the Periyar river inside the Periyar tiger reserve. Its water is diverted to the Suruliyar river, a tributary of the Vaigai river, a source of agriculture and drinking water in five districts of southern Tamil Nadu. Besides this, Tamil Nadu takes water through huge penstock pipes and underground tunnels. Though the Mullaperiyar dam is in Kerala, it is controlled and operated by Tamil Nadu.
