By IANS,
Chennai: With Kerala insisting on a new dam in place of the Mullaperiyar Dam, DMK president Thursday revived a over five decade old demand: retrieval of Peeramedu and Devikulam taluks from Kerala.
In a statement here, Karunanidhi said: “Now the central government should correct the wrong committed in 1886 by the British Governor of then Madras Presidency and the injustice committed to Tamil Nadu during the division of states on linguistic basis.”
He hoped that the Tamil Nadu government would take earnest action in retrieving Peeramedu and Devikulam taluks attached to Idukki district in Kerala.
Karunanidhi said the neglect of the demand to annex Peeramedu and Devikulam with Tamil Nadu had resulted in problems over the Mullaperiyar Dam between Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
He said the dam was built in Peeramedu area while the catchment area falls under the Devikulam taluk, and both areas were under the Pandya Kings of Tamil Nadu till the 12th century.
According to Karunanidhi, historians have said that the British government in 1886 entered into an agreement with the Princely State of Travancore mistaking that the two taluks belonged to the latter.
Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been at loggerheads over the dam, built under an 1886 accord between the then Maharaja of Travancore and the British Raj.
While the dam is located in Kerala, its control is with Tamil Nadu and its waters serve the state.
Tamil Nadu wants the dam’s storage capacity to be increased from the current 136 feet (41.5 metres) to 142 feet (43 metres) as per a Supreme Court order. Kerala wants a new dam.