Chennai: MDMK leader Vaiko on Wednesday charged Kerala with trying to build a dam across the Siruvani river and said the move would deprive three Tamil Nadu districts of water.
In a statement here, Vaiko said Kerala government had taken steps to build a dam across the river merging it with Bhavani river in Kerala at Chittoor with an aim to net six tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) of water "and create 4900 tmcft of new irrigation areas".
The statement also said that Kerala government was prepared to shell out Rs 460 crore for it.
While a similar project to divert one tmcft of water on Bhavani shelved ten years ago after protests from Tamil Nadu farmers, the latest proposal would affect Coimbatore, Erode and Tirupur districts, as also the drinking water prospects in these areas, he said.
"MDMK has already led protests at Mettupalayam and Coimbatore in this connection. The party will not rest till Kerala shelves the project and we will lead a massive struggle against it", he threatened.
Vaiko also sought support of all people for a human chain protest scheduled at Coimbatore on June 25 in this regard.
PTI
