KERALA MPs MEET PRIME MINISTER OVER MULLAPERIYAR

KERALA MPs MEET PRIME MINISTER OVER MULLAPERIYAR

With the Mullaperiyar Dam issue assuming centre stage, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday indicated that a meeting of Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala would be convened soon to discuss the contentious issue at length. Meeting a delegation of Congress MPs from Tamil Nadu, Dr. Singh assured them that he would talk to Union Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal with regard to the issue over which the two states have been at loggerheads for a long time. “The Prime Minister heard us patiently. We submitted a memorandum to him in this regard. He listened to our views. He said he would talk to Water Resources Minister and ask him to work on a meeting of Chief Ministers of both statesThe MPs told Dr. Singh that Kerala should not be allowed to construct a new dam near the 116-year-old existing structure.

They also asked Dr. Singh to intervene personally in the issue, which is at the centre stage again in the wake of reports that the dam is weakening due to increase in incidents of tremor in Idduki district in Kerala. Union Ministers from Kerala also met the Prime Minister seeking his intervention in ensuring the safety of the dam. Union Ministers Vayalar Ravi, K.V. Thomas, K.C. Venugopal, Mullapally Ramachandran and E. Ahamed met Dr. Singh with a demand to rein in Tamil Nadu’s insistence on increasing the water level in the reservoir for enhancing water supply to the state. “The Prime Minister heard us out and assured us that he would look into the issue,” Mr. Ravi, the Civil Aviation Minister, said.

MPs from Kerala, cutting across party lines, continued their protest in Parliament premises to press for their demand for building a new dam to replace the existing structure. Alongside the representatives from Kerala, four MPs from Tamil Nadu staged a sit-in protest demanding implementation of the Supreme Court directive on the matter by raising the storage level to 142 feet. While Tamil Nadu wants to increase the water-level in the reservoir, Kerala has been insisting that it be reduced from the current 136 feet to 120 feet. Kerala is willing to construct a new dam for supplying water to Tamil Nadu, which is opposing the move concerned over losing control over its functionality. 

                                                                           Prof. John Kurakar