Mullaperiyar row: Vaiko, other leaders arrested

Chennai: Twelve people including MDMK leader Vaiko and Tamil Nationalist Movement leader P Nedumaram have been arrested as they tried to block all routes to Kerala over Mullaperiyar row.

NDMK has been organising a blockade on 13 routes that connect Tamil Nadu and Kerala as part of an economic blockade in protest of the Kerala government's demand for decommissioning the controversial Mullaperiyar dam.

Kerala has maintained that frequent tremors in Idduki district, where the 116-year-old structure is located, was causing damage to the dam.

MDMK leader Vaiko has been arrested along with some of his cadres as they tried to block all routes to Kerala.

It also wants that a new dam should be constructed to replace the old structure, claiming that it is essential to prevent a disaster.

Tamil Nadu has stressed that there was no need for a new dam and that the water level of the existing dam should be raised from the present 136 feet to 142 feet as per a 2006 Supreme Court directive.

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