Kerala’s Water Resources Minister N K Premachandran had told the media that the said survey had been commenced as early as in 2007 and that 90 per cent of the work had been completed. When I brought this fact to Karunanidhi’s notice, he has retaliated by claiming that Kerala could not have done the survey in the said area as alleged, as the area fell within a wild life sanctuary and the survey could have been started only after October 6th this year when Union Minister of State for Forests and Environment, Jairam Ramesh gave the clearance for the survey.
I am left wondering whether Karunanidhi, a five-time chief minister, who has held the prestigious office for more than 15 years, is plainly ignorant or pretending to be ignorant or is he an epitome of inefficiency and ineptitude?
On November 29, 2006, well after the minority DMK regime under Karunanidhi took over the administrative reins of Tamil Nadu, the Union Minister for Water Resources had convened a meeting in Delhi in connection with the Mullai Periyar issue. For Karunanidhi, this meeting might not have been as important as meetings with the Prime Minister or the UPA Chairperson to wangle plum ministerial positions for his children and grand nephews. As a result, it is quite possible that he might have given this meeting a miss. But not so the Kerala Chief Minister. Mr V S Achuthanandan, in his opening remarks on the issue, said : "Our proposal is to have a new dam in Mullaiperiyar as a replacement to the old…" Immediately after this meeting, the Kerala Government commenced its survey. Of the land that has to be surveyed, 90 per cent falls within forest lands belonging to, and under the Control of, the Government of Kerala. Survey on these lands was taken up as early as in 2007 itself, according to the Kerala Water Resources Minister.
The questions that logically arise here are : Was Tamil Nadu represented at the November 29, 2006 meeting? If so, were Tamil Nadu’s objections to Kerala’s proposal for a new dam placed on record? Were such objections raised by a person of equal stature as the Kerala Chief Minister? After the Kerala Chief Minister had made his intentions known, did Tamil Nadu, through its officials, keep track of the developments on the Kerala side?
Again, on September 16, 2009, a meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife was held in Paryavaran Bhavan in New Delhi, chaired by the Union Minister of State for Forests and Environment, Jairam Ramesh. Senior officials from most States of India were represented at the meeting which discussed several inter-state issues. Kerala was represented by Mr K P Ouseph, Chief Wildlife Warden, Government of Kerala. Surprisingly, Tamil Nadu went totally unrepresented in this meeting in which 31 persons from all over India participated.
Paragraph 4.2(8) of the minutes of this meeting goes thus : Permission for Survey and investigation in area falling within Periyar Tiger Reserve for construction of New Mullaiperiyar Dam : "Member Secretary apprised the Members that the proposal was only for survey and investigation involving an area of 2.5 ha against the area of 925 sq kms of Periyar Tiger Reserve. CWLW of Kerala has recommended the proposal subject to number of conditions. After detailed discussions, and considering the fact that the old dam was 113 years old, weak and could cause disaster in future, Committee unanimously recommended the proposal only for survey and investigation subject to compliance of conditions envisaged by CWLW and without in any way affecting any legal and administrative clearance required."
Was Tamil Nadu not invited to this crucial meeting? If so, what sort of a coalition government is this, which depends on so many ministers from the DMK and the Congress from Tamil Nadu, but does not invite anyone from the State for such an important meeting? Why does the DMK continue to be part of this coalition government, when the interests of the people of Tamil Nadu are being so brazenly ignored? If Tamil Nadu had been invited, then why was no representative sent to ensure that the State’s interests and its riparian rights were protected? Was that not the reason why the decision to accord permission to Kerala to conduct the survey was recorded in the Minutes as "unanimous"? By Karunanidhi’s own admission, Jairam Ramesh had given his written clearance only on October 6th, 2009. For 20 days after the decision to give Kerala the permission to conduct the survey was taken, neither the Tamil Nadu government nor the DMK ministers in the Union Cabinet did anything about it. Does this not amount to administrative ineptitude of the highest order? What right does a person, who does not know what is happening, who is not concerned about what is happening and yet goes about claiming that everything is fine, have to continue as Chief Minister? It is for the people of Tamil Nadu to judge.