that certain political quarters and a contractors' lobby are issuing
"baseless and defamatory statements" against the organisation in
connection with the proposal to construct a rubber dam in the Pampa at
Aranmula. In a statement on Tuesday, Mr. Mathew condemned the reported
statements of two District Tourism Promotion Council members terming
the samiti general secretary N.K. Sukumaran Nair a 'quack.'Mr. Mathew
claimed that the samiti had played a key role in the inclusion of the
Pampa in the National River Conservation Programme.He recalled that at
a recent meeting that was held at Environmental Resource Centre at
Poovathoor near Aranmula, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister T.K.A.
Nair too had hailed the contribution of the samiti and its founder
general secretary Sukumaran Nair in highlighting the problems faced by
the river.This had ultimately led to the Union government sanctioning
the Pampa Action Plan on the lines of Ganga Action Plan, Mr. Mathew
said.He said the samiti had never opposed construction of a rubber dam
in Pampa.Its opposition was to implementing the project without
conducting proper environmental impact study, he added.
The Hindu, 19th November 2008
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