By IANS,
New Delhi: With the political battle intensifying between Kerala and Tamil Nadu on the Mullaperiyar dam issue, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is to come here Thursday to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
After a cabinet meeting, Chandy claimed in Thiruvananthapuram that the prime minister was “already convinced” of his state’s demand for a new dam in place of the 116-year-old structure.
He said he would once again take up the issue with the prime minister and added that he would write to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, explaining Kerala’s position on the Mullaperiyar issue.
The dam in Kerala’s Idukki district supplies water to Tamil Nadu.
The MPs from Tamil and Kerala Tuesday sought Manmohan Singh’s intervention to resolve the complex issue.
Manmohan Singh is understood to have assured that a meeting of chief ministers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala would be arranged soon to discuss the contentious issue.
Tamil Nadu wants the dam’s storage capacity to be increased by raising the dam height – from 136 feet (41.5 m) to 142 feet (43 m) to meet growing irrigation needs in the state.
Kerala, on the other hand, wants a new dam as it fears that a strong earthquake might damage the existing dam.