VS urges Centre to step up dam issue

ALUVA: The Central Government should take immediate steps on the Mullaperiyar dam issue, taking into consideration the safety of lakhs of people in Kerala, Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan said here on Thursday.He was speaking to media persons at the government guest house here. Achuthanandan said that over 35 lakh people in three districts were living under constant threat. Kerala, during the LDF rule, could present the problem of Mullaperiyar dam and its danger before the Union Government. The LDF government had insisted that the water level in the dam be restricted to 136 feet. But it was ignored. He alleged that the Tamil Nadu Government in the name of irrigation was using water from Mullaperiyar dam to generate electricity. The Prime Minister was playing bargaining tactics on the issue, he added.Regarding queries on the Icecream Parlour case, he said it was not easy and practical for police officers to grill ministers and collect evidence from them during the special investigation. Achuthanandan ruled out any sympathy wave in favour of the UDF in the forthcoming Piravom by-election. The Oommen Chandy government failed to prevent the suicides of farmers, he accused.