TN Govt to hold all-party meet on Mullaperiyar Oct 23

Chennai, Oct 19 (UNI) The Tamil Nadu Government has convened an all party meeting on October 23 to discuss Kerala Government's invitation for talks on the contentious Mullaperiyar Dam issue.

An official release here said the meeting would be held at 1000 hrs at the state secretariat and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had sent individual invitations to all political parties in the state to take part in the meeting.

As suggested by the Supreme Court, Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan had invited Tamil Nadu Government for talks on the issue, it said.

The Supreme Court had initially passed an order on February 27 that the water level in the dam be raised to 142 ft. But the Kerala Government, refusing to implement the order, had made an amendment to the Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation Act, 2003.

When the Tamil Nadu Government moved the Apex Court seeking a direction to Kerala to implement in toto its orders, the Supreme court suggested the two governments could resolve the issue through negotiations.

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