Chief Minister Jayalalithaa promises to raise water storage to 152 feet
Madurai: Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Friday promised to take steps to restore the water level of the Mullaiperiyar dam to its original 152 feet. Accepting the felicitations offered by the farmers who benefit from the water from the Mullaiperiyar at a grand function at Masthanpatti along the Ring Road in Madurai, she said, “I promise you that all measures will be taken to restore the storage of the dam to the original full reservoir level of 152 feet after carrying out the remaining strengthening works, as directed by the Supreme Court.”
She said the Tamils are her people, which is why she considered their livelihood problem as hers and acted without any delay (in winning the dam case against Kerala and executing the top court’s order of restoring the level to an interim 142 feet). “This is the secret of success. This victory is ours.”
In her inimitable style, she peppered her speech with three stories to send across the message that the DMK president and former chief minister M. Karunanidhi betrayed Tamils who gave him life. She recalled her efforts even while being in the opposition to retrieve Tamil Nadu’s rights over the dam.
“Since his mind was towards spectrum, he was not concerned about the welfare of the Tamils. As a result, the Kerala government, during his previous regime, placed a fresh demand to construct a new dam replacing the present structure and the central government too accorded its approval to carry out inspection in this regard.”
She said Mr Karunanidhi, after realising the fact in her statement opposing the nod for inspection of a site for new dam, announced a protest against the union environment ministry and the Kerala government but did a volte-face. “He not only helped annihilate Tamil race but also adopted an evasive approach in matters concerning their rights,” Ms Jayalalithaa said adding that he failed to use his clout in the previous Congress-led union government to raise the dam level as allowed by supreme court in its Feb 2006 order.
