Govt. conspiring to aid T.N. in Mullaperiyar row: UDF
The Hindu
‘Tree felling to strengthen baby dam will bolster TN’s case to raise reservoir level further’
The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition walked out of the Assembly on Monday, accusing the Government of conspiring to advantage Tamil Nadu in the Mullaperiyar dam dispute.
Congress legislator Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, who moved an adjournment motion to debate the matter, said the Forest Department had covertly allowed Tamil Nadu to cut 15 trees to strengthen the baby dam at Mullaperiyar.
The “dubious” order paved the way for Tamil Nadu to counter Kerala’s demand for a new dam at Mullaperiyar. It also aided Tamil Nadu’s case for raising the water level in the 126-year-old dam to a perilous 152 ft by claiming that it had fortified the baby dam.
In 2011, the Karnataka government announced that five botanical gardens will be developed on the lines of the Lalbagh Botanical Garden in Bengaluru across the State. But according to the latest developments, there will only be four such gardens as the Horticulture Department is most likely to drop the project that was supposed to come up in Chikkaballapura district.