The Weekend Leader - TN vindicated

Experts back Tamil Nadu stand on Mullaiperiyar issue

03-January-2012

Vol 2 | Issue 52

The disinformation campaign unleashed by the Kerala government on the stability of the Mullaiperiyar dam is falling flat, despite desperate attempts by a powerful coterie operating through sections of media to sustain the propaganda.

According to reports, the two technical experts of the Supreme Court appointed Empowered Committee, C D Thatte and D K Mehta have given the opinion that the dam is safe. The duo inspected the dam last month and conducted a study on its safety and stability.

Experts have declared the dam safe, but Kerala refuses to abandon its fears

Deccan Chronicle front-paged the news with the headline, ‘Members of SC-appointed panel find no truth in Kerala claim of cracks in dam.’ The report said, “The finding could effectively take the wind out of the Kerala campaign to build a new structure to replace the dam…”

At least now, Kerala should have faith in expert opinion. PWD engineers from Tamil Nadu have provided sufficient material to substantiate their assertion that the dam is strong and there was no cause for worry.

Kerala dismissed it as biased opinion. Now it refuses to accept the opinion of independent experts, who are not from Tamil Nadu, and more importantly, are experts of a Supreme Court appointed committee.

The flimsy charge that the State has leveled against the experts is that they did not listen to its views and acted in favour of Tamil Nadu. Kerala should realize that it is not helping its own cause with such unreasonable attitude, when expert opinion has consistently not been in its favour.

Recent developments clearly indicate that the whole argument of Kerala for a new dam is flawed, since it is based on fictionalized accounts of doomsayers and not on facts.

The Centre has put on hold the formation of a team under the National Disaster Management Authority for formulating a ‘contingency response plan’ in the event of the Mullaiperiyar dam bursting. There were also reports that the Centre was favourably considering the Tamil Nadu government’s plea for central security to the dam.

Neither science nor the political ground realities seem to favour Kerala in this issue. Kerala should leave the safety of the dam to experts and concentrate on other real issues that demand its urgent attention. - TWL Bureau

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