The Kerala Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, has sought the intervention of the Prime Minister to settle the dispute between his state and Tamil Nadu over the Mullaperiyar dam issue and said his government wants the permission of the Centre to build a new dam to replace the 116-year-old structure.
“We want the Prime Minister to intervene in this matter and settle the issue between Tamil Nadu and Kerala,” Mr Chandy told reporters today after meeting the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the Water Resources Minister, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, in Parliament House.
He said Kerala’s approach was to provide Tamil Nadu with adequate quantity of water and safety of its people against the backdrop of fears about the strength of the dam following a series of earthquakes in and around the area.
“The situation is very panicky so we want to reduce the water level from 136 feet to 120 feet,” he said, adding that his government wants the permission of the Centre to construct a new dam to replace the present structure.
He also requested Mr Bansal to ensure that the Central Government examines the safety aspect of all the dams in the country which are over 100-years old.
As per National Register of Large Dams (2009), there are 126 dams in India which are over a century old.
Mr Chandy’s meeting with Dr Manmohan Singh came a day after the Prime Minister told the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Ms Jayalalithaa, that nothing should be said or done to create “undue alarm”. Tamil Nadu has accused Kerala of whipping up a ‘fear psychosis’ on the issue.
The Chief Minister also met the Congress chief, Ms Sonia Gandhi, earlier in the day to brief her about Kerala’s position on the dam issue.
Mr Chandy, in a letter to Ms Jayalalithaa after the latest row erupted, has sought a reduction in the water level in the reservoir to 120 feet as an immediate step to remove fears among people living close to the dam.
Dr Manmohan Singh had yesterday directed Mr Bansal to arrange an early meeting between the officials of Tamil Nadu and Kerala to “sort out outstanding issues and allay genuine concerns’’.
While Kerala has expressed apprehension that rising water level in the dam posed a major risk to it, Tamil Nadu has rejected any such fears.