All India Youth Federation, an affiliate of the Communist Party of India, has urged the Kerala Government to show magnanimity while deciding on the construction of a dam across River Siruvani, near Attapady.
In a press meet in Coimbatore on Sunday, the Federation’s State Secretary V. Balamurugan told journalists when Coimbatore faced acute water crisis in early 1970s, the then Kerala Chief Minister Achutha Menon, who was from CPI, showed magnanimity in inking an agreement with the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi to supply Siruvani water to the city.
Today’s leaders should recall the gesture while taking the decision. If the Kerala Government were to construct the check dam, it would severely impact the drinking water needs of the city. The Government should, therefore, give up the proposal.