Vaiko flays Centre over Dam Safety Bill

According to the Bill, the rights for maintenance, administration and control of dams would be given to the states where the dam is situated, and this would affect the rights for water release from the dams to Tamil Nadu.

Recalling that Kerala government enacted a similar law in February 2006 when a verdict allowing storage of 142 feet in the Mullaiperiyar dam was delivered by the Supreme Court, Vaiko said the apex court had condemned the Kerala government’s Act.

A similar Bill was drafted by the Union government in 2012 and it was not passed after opposition from former chief minister J Jayalalithaa, he recalled.

But, Prime Minister Narendra Modi government had approved the Bill in its cabinet meeting on June 13 and it would remove all the safeguards for Tamil Nadu on the Cauvery dispute. Vaiko cited the statement of Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami who had complained that the state had been kept in the dark over the Bill. The Chief Minister had also stated that the Bill should not be passed without the state’s consent, the MDMK chief added.

The Centre should provide the details of the Bill to the state government, but the Centre had concealed the details to harm Tamil Nadu, he charged.