Anbumani welcomes decision to put off Central Environmental Ministry’s expert panel meeting to study impact of building new dam in Mullaperiyar

PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss supports Supreme Court ruling against new Mullaperiyar dam, criticizes Kerala government's actions.

PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Tuesday welcomed the Central government’s decision to put off the central environmental ministry’s expert committee meeting which was to take place in New Delhi to review and decide on Kerala government’s application to study the environmental impacts of constructing a new dam across the Mullaperiyar.

Dr. Anbumani said the only way to ensure there is no debate about the Mullaperiyar issue is to approach the Supreme Court.

“Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has already written a letter to Central Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. This is not enough,” he said.

In a statement, he pointed out the Supreme Court ruling in this issue was quite clear and that Kerala government’s insistence in building a new dam was wrong.

“The Supreme Court has ruled that ‘The Mullaperiyar dam is very strong. It is stronger than any new dam that could be built there. Therefore, a new dam is unnecessary. Instead, steps should be taken to raise the water level of the dam to 152 feet’. The central environmental ministry’s action to forward Kerala’s application for an expert panel review was also wrong. This mistake has been corrected by cancelling the meeting,” he said.

Dr. Anbumani insisted there should no discussion or debate about the Mullaperiyar Dam even if the expert panel were to meet again in future.

“The request by the Kerala government to set limits for studying the environmental impact of a new Mullaperiyar dam was included in the agenda for today’s expert panel meeting. This should be removed and ensuring that this is removed from the agenda is the responsibility and duty of the Tamil Nadu government,” he said.