Dam row: Border town normal, all-party meet on

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 6: An all-party meeting to discuss the Mullaperiyar Dam row is underway in the state capital even as the situation was today (Dec 6) normal in Kumali town on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, where prohibitory orders are in force after incidents of stoning of vehicles.

The meeting is being held here to discuss the latest turns on the dam issue.

The Kerala Government has welcomed the official level talks on the vexed issue arranged by the Centre later this month.

Prohibitory orders were enforced in Kumali town last night following stray incidents of stoning of vehicles and gathering of people as part of the Mullaperiyar Dam campaign.

Idukki District Collector E Devadasan said this morning that there was no hurdle for vehicles passing through the border check post.

However, the flow of vehicles from Tamil Nadu, including those carrying Ayyappa pilgrims, has been thin since last night as many of them had been stranded at Theni in Tamil Nadu in the wake of tension on both sides, he said.

The district officials had contacted their counterparts at Theni and asked them to allow the stranded vehicles bound for Kerala to proceed, Superintendent of Police Goerge Varghese said.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has appealed to all those participating in the campaign to exercise utmost restraint and said nobody would be allowed to take law into their hands.

PTI