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Cops block Yuva Morcha’s Mullaperiyar dam march
The Kerala Police on Sunday blocked Yuva Morcha activists who marched to the Mullaperiyar dam site to dig canals from the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam in order to lower its water level as per a call given by Kerala Water Resources Minister PJ Joseph.
The police action of blocking the activists some distance away from the Mullaperiyar dam at Vallakkadavu in Idukki district caused some tension but Yuva Morcha workers, who had cleverly reached the dam, site symbolically carried out the canal-digging and hoisted flag on the dam even before the march took place.
“We have come here to carry out the Government’s call to dig canals in order to lower the dam water level. But when we reach here for that, the police block us,” said State BJP president V Muraleedharan, who earlier inaugurated the march. “The Government should now admit that it is not serious about the safety of the people and that the Minister was just joking,” he said.
The police resorted to lathicharge on the Yuva Morcha activists when they tried to pass through the barricade at Vallakadavu which led to mild stone-pelting from the part of the marchers. Following this, the activists sat in a dharna on the road protesting against the police violence on the marchers, who had reached there to “carry out the Minister’s call”.
On Saturday, a group of about 200 Youth Congress activists had overcome a police blockade to “capture” the shutter system in Thekkady near Mullaperiyar, used by Tamil Nadu to draw water from the reservoir, in a symbolic act. The incident is being seen as a huge security failure from the part of the Kerala Police.
Minister Joseph, working chairman of the Kerala Congress (M), had in many of his speeches and television programmes asked the people to dig canals from the Mullaperiyar reservoir in order to lower the water level so that a breach in the already weakened dam could be avoided. He had even said that he would lead the people in such an effort.
Joseph had given this call in the context of the refusal by Tamil Nadu, which was drawing the entire water of the reservoir as per an 1886 agreement, to agree with a Kerala proposal to construct a new dam to replace the old one. Muraleedharan said that the Yuva Morcha had only tried to carry out this call given by the Minister.
Inaugurating the march at Vallakkadavu earlier, Muraleedharan said that Kerala’s struggle for safety from any danger caused by the dam should now be shifted to the gates of the Prime Minister’s residence in Delhi in the context of his refusal to intervene in the matter even after the Chief Minister, many Ministers and MPs had held several rounds of talks with him.
“Our agitation is not political, It is not against Tamil Nadu… The Kerala BJP has sought an appointment with the Prime Minister for Tuesday. We are also meeting the Opposition leader in the Lok Sabha. Keralites should now shift this stir to Delhi,” the State BJP chief said.
Muraleedharan said that the recent developments had generated suspicions about the Kerala Government’s resolve to take the agitation ahead. He said the statement given by the Advocate General in the High Court that a breach in Mullaperiyar dam would not cause a huge disaster justified this feeling.
Meanwhile, Law Minister KM Mani, chairman of Kerala Congress(M), and Water Resources Minister Joseph announced that they would observe fast on Monday to register their protest against Tamil Nadu’s alleged intransigence in the dam issue despite Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s instruction to his Ministers not to participate in active agitations.
Mani said he would observe fast at Chappath in Mullaperiyar where several top political leaders had already held hunger strike while Joseph would do it at Delhi, However, Mani said his fast should not be considered as active agitation but it would be an act of prayer.
The Kerala Police on Sunday blocked Yuva Morcha activists who marched to the Mullaperiyar dam site to dig canals from the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam in order to lower its water level as per a call given by Kerala Water Resources Minister PJ Joseph.
The police action of blocking the activists some distance away from the Mullaperiyar dam at Vallakkadavu in Idukki district caused some tension but Yuva Morcha workers, who had cleverly reached the dam, site symbolically carried out the canal-digging and hoisted flag on the dam even before the march took place.
“We have come here to carry out the Government’s call to dig canals in order to lower the dam water level. But when we reach here for that, the police block us,” said State BJP president V Muraleedharan, who earlier inaugurated the march. “The Government should now admit that it is not serious about the safety of the people and that the Minister was just joking,” he said.
The police resorted to lathicharge on the Yuva Morcha activists when they tried to pass through the barricade at Vallakadavu which led to mild stone-pelting from the part of the marchers. Following this, the activists sat in a dharna on the road protesting against the police violence on the marchers, who had reached there to “carry out the Minister’s call”.
On Saturday, a group of about 200 Youth Congress activists had overcome a police blockade to “capture” the shutter system in Thekkady near Mullaperiyar, used by Tamil Nadu to draw water from the reservoir, in a symbolic act. The incident is being seen as a huge security failure from the part of the Kerala Police.
Minister Joseph, working chairman of the Kerala Congress (M), had in many of his speeches and television programmes asked the people to dig canals from the Mullaperiyar reservoir in order to lower the water level so that a breach in the already weakened dam could be avoided. He had even said that he would lead the people in such an effort.
Joseph had given this call in the context of the refusal by Tamil Nadu, which was drawing the entire water of the reservoir as per an 1886 agreement, to agree with a Kerala proposal to construct a new dam to replace the old one. Muraleedharan said that the Yuva Morcha had only tried to carry out this call given by the Minister.
Inaugurating the march at Vallakkadavu earlier, Muraleedharan said that Kerala’s struggle for safety from any danger caused by the dam should now be shifted to the gates of the Prime Minister’s residence in Delhi in the context of his refusal to intervene in the matter even after the Chief Minister, many Ministers and MPs had held several rounds of talks with him.
“Our agitation is not political, It is not against Tamil Nadu… The Kerala BJP has sought an appointment with the Prime Minister for Tuesday. We are also meeting the Opposition leader in the Lok Sabha. Keralites should now shift this stir to Delhi,” the State BJP chief said.
Muraleedharan said that the recent developments had generated suspicions about the Kerala Government’s resolve to take the agitation ahead. He said the statement given by the Advocate General in the High Court that a breach in Mullaperiyar dam would not cause a huge disaster justified this feeling.
Meanwhile, Law Minister KM Mani, chairman of Kerala Congress(M), and Water Resources Minister Joseph announced that they would observe fast on Monday to register their protest against Tamil Nadu’s alleged intransigence in the dam issue despite Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s instruction to his Ministers not to participate in active agitations.
Mani said he would observe fast at Chappath in Mullaperiyar where several top political leaders had already held hunger strike while Joseph would do it at Delhi, However, Mani said his fast should not be considered as active agitation but it would be an act of prayer.
