By IANS,
New Delhi : Parliament members from Kerala Monday demanded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intervention in the Mullaperiyar dam controversy, saying the earthen dam was not safe and the state needed a new one.
“All MPs from Kerala will be sitting on a fast in the parliament complex,” Congress MP from the state P.T. Thomas told IANS.
Cutting across party lines, Kerala MPs also staged a demonstration in the parliament complex Monday morning showing placards and raising slogans, demanding the central government’s intervention.
Concerns are being raised about the safety of the dam, which is in Idukki district of Kerala, after mild tremors shook the area Saturday. The dam is filled to its maximum permissible level of 136 feet following fresh rains.
“We want safety for Kerala and water for Tamil Nadu, another dam should be made and the prime minister should intervene,” Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP from Palakkad M.B. Rajesh said.
“We are not against Tamil Nadu,” he added.
The members also raised slogans that more than three million lives were under threat because of the masonry dam.
Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been at loggerhead about the 116-year-old dam, which is located in Kerala and serves Tamil Nadu. While Kerala has been demanding a new dam, the sentiment in Tamil Nadu has been against it.