Stop Dam Safety Bill, says TTV Dhinakaran

He recalled that former chief minister J Jayalalithaa had firmly opposed the Dam Safety Bill since 2011. After coming to power in 2016, she had opined that certain sections of the Bill amounted to snatching away the rights of states and wanted their removal.

She also stated that the Centre should not take forward the Dam Safety Bill without consulting the Tamil Nadu government.

He also cited Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami’s statement that the state government had been kept in the dark over the details of the Bill.

Palaniswami had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to postpone the decision to implement the Dam Safety Bill temporarily, Dhinakaran noted and said the Chief Minister should not think he had discharged his duty just by writing a letter. He urged the CM to take steps to stop the Centre’s Bill which would cause a setback to Tamil Nadu.

DMK working president MK Stalin and MDMK general secretary Vaiko had already opposed the Bill.

Stalin had said the Bill would be detrimental to the interests of Tamil Nadu since four dams providing water to it were located in other states. He had also demanded a resolution in Tamil Nadu Assembly against the Bill.