The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Ms J. Jayalalithaa, today took strong exception to the National Disaster Management Authority forming a team of experts to draw up a contingency response plan for the Mullaperiyar Dam, saying it was nothing but “succumbing to the subterfuge” of Kerala.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, she expressed her “shock” over NDMA under his chairmanship constituting a team of experts to formulate a Contingency Response Plan including “inundation and submergence models” in the event of possible scenarios such as earthquakes and floods.

“This is nothing but succumbing to the subterfuge of the Government of Kerala and to present a fait accompli to the Supreme Court and the Empowered Committee constituted by it,” she said.

Demanding withdrawal of the office memorandum of the NDMA, Ms Jayalalithaa said since the matter was pending in the Supreme Court and the Empowered Committee constituted by it looking into various aspects including the dam’s safety, constituting an NDMA experts team “is not warranted at this stage.”

She asserted that the apex court had already decided in 2006 that the dam was safe and permitted Tamil Nadu to raise the water level to 142 ft initially.

Ms Jayalalithaa’s missive comes amid an unending war of words between leaders of both States over Kerala’s insistence on demolishing the 116-year-old dam citing safety concerns which Tamil Nadu opposes.

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