Mullaiperiyar issue: TN suggest dates for talks

Chennai, Nov 15: Amid reports that the Centre had called for a meeting of Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala to discuss the Mullaiperiyar issue in New Delhi on November 23, the Tamil Nadu government today suggested three different dates for holding the talks.

An official release here said Union Water Resources Minister Saifudin Soz had asked Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi for a convenient date to convene the meeting.

Based on that, the Chief Minister had written to the Union Minister, suggesting that the meeting could be held on any convenient day between November 28 and 30.

Meanwhile, State Public Works Minister Duraimurugan expressed surprise over media reports that the Union Water Resources Ministry had convened the chief ministers' meeting on November 23.

He told sources that the state government had so far not received any communication in this regard.

Reiterating his stand that Tamil Nadu would not hold direct talks with Kerala on the issue as it ''would not yield any result,'' the minister said the state had agreed for the Centre's mediation in response to the Supreme Court's observation in this regard.

He also alleged that politicians in Kerala, be it a minister, a MLA or an ex-MLA, were making statements on the Mullaiperiyar issue every other day.

''But we don't want to create any controversy by issuing such statements. We are confident that the justice is on our side in the matter,'' he remarked.

UNI