Govt taking legal steps on Mullaperiyar issue: Karunanidhi

Flaying opposition AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalithaa and MDMK leader Vaiko for finding fault with his government on the Mullaperiyar issue, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today said the government was taking all legal steps to protect the interest of the state.

Reacting to the charges levelled by Ms Jayalalithaa and Mr Vaiko that he failed to protect the interest of the state on the issue, Mr Karunanidhi, in a six-page statement, said thanks to the efforts taken by the state government, the Supreme Court had yesterday declined to entertain a petition filed by Kerala to fortify its argument that the Mullaperiyar dam had become weak.

He said due to continuous legal steps being taken by the state government, the Supreme Court had not only declined to entertain the petition, supported by a report by IIT Roorke on the safety of the dam, but also censured the Kerala government for enacting a legislation to nullify the Apex court's 2006 order directing it to increase the water level from 136 ft to 142 ft.

Listing out the number of steps taken by his government and giving details of letters written to the Prime Minister and Kerala Chief Minister on the issue, Mr Karunanidhi said the charge by the opposition leaders that the government did nothing, was only an attempt to cheat the people of the state.

He said after the Supreme Court passed orders on February 27, 2006 that Tamil Nadu could raise the water level from 136 ft to 142 ft in the first phase, the Kerala government, within 16 days, had enacted a special legislation to nullify the court order.

The then Jayalalithaa government had moved the Supreme Court only after two weeks, but remained silent after filing the stay petition.

Only after the DMK came to power in May 2006, steps were taken to get the petition numbered, he said.

-- (UNI) -- 05MS42.xml

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