By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan Friday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene and rein in Tamil Nadu in the matter of construction of a new Mullaperiyar dam.
Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been at loggerheads over the present dam built under an agreement signed in 1886 between the then maharaja of Travancore and the British administration.
Recently Union Minister Jairam Ramesh had given the nod for conducting a survey at Mullaperiyar for a new dam which has been the demand of Kerala.
“It is rather strange that Tamil Nadu and Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi have been attacking Ramesh for this. The prime minister should intervene and we have sent a letter to him on this,” said Achuthanandan told reporters.
In 1979, the Central Water Resources Commission had identified the place where the new dam is to be built.
While the dam is located in Idukki district in the state, it serves Tamil Nadu. In recent years, Tamil Nadu has demanded that the storage capacity of the dam be raised from 136 feet (41.5 metres) to 142 feet (43 metres) to meet the increasing demand of water for irrigation.
“Tamil Nadu should be well aware that four million people living in the neighbouring districts are in fear over the deteriorating condition of the dam. We request the prime minister to resolve this issue at the earliest,” said Achuthanandan.
In June, the Kerala assembly, passed a unanimous resolution demanding that the central government take the lead and allow the state to construct a new dam at Mullaperiyar and decommission the existing one.