'Expert panel, a fraud'

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, MAY 24. The constitution of an expert committee to resolve the Mullaperiyar impasse was a ``fraud'' and ``inimical to the interest of the farmers in south Tamil Nadu,'' the TMC president, Mr. G. K. Moopanar and the TNCC(I) president, Mr. Tindivanam K. Ramamurthy have alleged in a joint statement today.

The TNCC(I) and the TMC would hold a joint agitation in Theni on June 2 demanding the withdrawal of the expert committee and to sensitise the State Government and the Centre to the plight of the farmers in the Periyar irrigation areas, the statement said.

The expert committee was ``unneccessary'' since the Central Water Commission, an authorised body under the Central Government, had already in its report stated that the dam could hold the full storage, they said.

The joint statement issued by the two leaders at a joint media conference today, also said that the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister had committted a `historic blunder' by giving his consent for the expert committee.

Also, the expert committee had not been given any timeframe for presenting its report and there was no guarantee that the committee's conclusions would be accepted by the Kerala Government.

`The State Government and the Centre have deceived the people of Tamil Nadu and committed a fraud for their political gains,'' they said.

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Section  : Southern States
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