DMK to organise state-wide fasts on Dec 12 on Mullaperiyar

CHENNAI: DMK today announced it would organise fasts all over Tamil Nadu on December 12, demanding that the Centre prevails upon Kerala to implement the Supreme Court order, raising the storage level of Mullaperiyar Dam to 142 feet from 136 feet.

The party, which resolved to formulate a course of action on the fasts to protest Kerala's demand for construction of a new dam, also decided to organise a human chain in five southern districts -- Theni, Madurai, Ramanathapuram, Dindigul and Sivaganga on December 15, which benefit from the waters of the dam.

DMK treasurer M K Stalin would head the human chain agitation at Theni, the resolution said.

In a rare sign of unity, DMK Chief M Karunanidhi had earlier this week echoed arch rival and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's demand for deployment of Central Industrial Security Force to protect the dam, which Kerala wants to demolish to build a new one.

He had also charged the Centre and Kerala government with failing to prevent violence against Tamils in Kerala.

The Mullaperiyar issue has come to the fore in the past two weeks with Kerala raising the pitch for the new dam citing safety concerns about the existing structure

Kerala has been witnessing a series protests by various political parties and social groups for a new dam in the wake of recent tremors in the region and rising water level in the dam in Kerala's Idduki district but maintained by Tamil Nadu under a 999 year lease.

In the ongoing row, Tamil Nadu has accused Kerala of whipping up panic and moved the Supreme Court for a direction to deploy CISF at the site, the scene of protests.