Chennai:
Charging Kerala government officials with blocking materials meant to plug holes at the Mullaperiar Dam with a view to "weakening it," Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder Dr S Ramadoss on Friday demanded an economic blockade on the neighbouring state lest it should allow Tamil Nadu officials to take up the works.
"With four of the six holes dug up for tests plugged, Kerala Forest officials had recently prevented Tamil Nadu lorries carrying cement at the Vallakadavu check post. The Kerala government's efforts to weaken the dam are condemnable," he said in a statement in Chennai.
With Kerala dependent on Tamil Nadu for supplies including vegetables, rice and meat, the said act by officials is "childish behavior," he said, adding that farmers from Theni District in the state have taken to protests against this.
If their protests intensify, tension would escalate on the borders leading to general peace being disturbed, he added.
"Realising this and keeping in mind national integration, Kerala government should allow plugging the holes and if it fails to do so all roads used to transport milk, rice and other commodities to that state must be blocked by the state government," he demanded.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had recently complained to the Prime Minister that Kerala officials were preventing Tamil Nadu from carrying out maintenance work on the dam.