By IANS
New Delhi : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi has promised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh he will hold an early meeting with his Kerala counterpart V.S. Achuthanandan to work out a solution to the dispute between the two states on the Mullaperiyar dam.
Karunanidhi met the prime minister Tuesday night soon after his arrival here on a three-day visit.
“We (he and Kerala chief minister) have agreed to sit together at the earliest to resolve Mullaperiyar issue,” Karunanidhi said after his meeting with Manmohan Singh.
Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been involved in a legal battle and a war of words over the Mullaperiyar dam, located in Idukki district of Kerala, with Tamil Nadu protesting Kerala’s opposition to raising the water level to 142 feet.
Kerala wants the reservoir water to remain at 132 feet, saying the dam is old and unsafe.
Tamil Nadu is also opposed to the construction of a new dam.
Achuthanandan, along with Kerala Water Resources Minister N.K. Premachandran had met Manmohan Singh seeking his intervention and he had promised to talk to Karunanidhi to facilitate an early dialogue between the two chief ministers over this contentious issue.
The prime minister had even indicated that he could persuade and mediate in such a meeting when the two are here to attend the meeting of the National Development Council (NDC) Wednesday.
Karunanidhi, who leads the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhgam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu, is also likely to call on United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi after the NDC meeting.