Dandapani withstands Mullaperiyar quake

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Steamrolling the  demand of  Kerala  Congress ministers  K M Mani and P J Joseph as well as the general public mood, the state Cabinet saved  the day for Advocate-General K P Dandapani, who was  summoned to appear before it. He pleaded that he was misquoted by the media on his remarks in the High Court in the  Mullaperiyar case. He had never stated that there is no co-relation between the water level and safety of  the dam, he said.“The AG’s topic is a closed chapter,’’ maintained Chief  Minister Oommen Chandy while addressing a news conference later and announced that an all-party delegation from the state would meet the Prime Minister soon.The Cabinet also decided to form a five-member ministerial sub-committee to frame a comprehensive affidavit on the issue  replacing  the statement of  facts  when the case comes up again in the High Court on December 15. The sub-committee, comprising  ministers  K M Mani, Aryadan Mohammed, P J Joseph,Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and K C Joseph, met on Wednesday afternoon and a draft affidavit was finalised which was handed over to the Advocate-General.The three-and-a- half-hour-long Cabinet meet witnessed rising tempers with many ministers lashing out against the lack of  diligence by  the AG, eventually giving an impression among the public that there is a conflicting and pro-Tamil Nadu stance on Mullaperiyar whereas the state remains united in its demand for  a new dam and lowering of  the water level to 120 feet. He left after explaining his stand for about an hour from 11 am, after which the Cabinet discussed various points once again.Mullperiyar expert committee chairman M K Parameswaran Nair was also summoned to provide explanation to the Cabinet.Chandy told mediapersons that an interlocutory petition was also filed by the state in the Supreme Court on Wednesday, with a single prayer to consider the recurring tremors in the Mullaperiyar region and order  adequate measures to remove the fears of lakhs of people living in the five districts of  the state.A State Disaster Mitigation Fund has been floated and `2 crore  has been sanctioned as an initial corpus. Plans are also on for installing a mechanism to estimate probable losses in the event of a breach of  the Mullaperiyar dam through Digital Elevation Modelling LANSAT Imaging on the basis of  Dam Break Analysis test being undertaken by Roorkee IIT.Referring to the violence unleashed against Keralites in various parts of  Tamil Nadu, Chandy said it was  unfortunate that certain happenings, for which Kerala is admittedly on the wrong side, are being magnified with resultant reactions.