Tamil Nadu, Kerala meet on Mullaperiyar 'inconclusive'

New Delhi, Nov 29: The Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala today failed to arrive at an immediate solution to the vexed Mullaperiyar dam dispute, but succeeded in achieving "some progress" with both the sides deciding to hold talks again at the ministerial level, within a fortnight, to find an amicable settlements.

During a Centre-sponsored 90-minute long meeting, in the presence of Union Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and his Kerala counterpart V S Achuthanandan put forward the viewpoints of their states with regard to the controversy regarding the safety of the 112-year old inter-state Mullaperiyar river dam in Idukki district of Kerala.

Tamil Nadu Works Minister Duraimurugan expressed satisfaction over the "progress of the talks," but said the discussion was "inconclusive." Asked whether the dispute would be resolved at the proposed ministerial level meeting, he said that "we are always positive in our thinking." A major point of difference that emerged at the meeting today was the question relating to the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam. The entire discussion revolved around the safety of the dam and the proposal of Kerala to construct a new dam in place of the existing one which was constructed by the Britishers 112 years ago.

Mr Achuthanandan suggested that a new, modern, technically sound dam should be constructed by keeping in mind both the safety concerns as well as availability of water for Tamil Nadu. "The safety concerns that we technologically address in this dam would take care of seismic activities and their impact on the dam." He argued that the storage level of the dam should not be raised beyond 136 ft as any higher storage might prove detrimental to the safety of the dam which was constructed in 1895. Any breach in the dam would suberge at least four districts and affect 3.5 million people.

Pointing out that the dam was built with rubble and like surkhi and it was constructed at a time when the technology for building dams was much inferior to the present day technology, Mr Achuthanandan said "normally for a dam of this nature the life span is only 50 years." But Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi asserted that the dam was ''quite safe and as good as new.'' He sought the cooperation of Kerala in implementing the Supreme Court order allowing his state to raise the water level in the dam to 142 ft from 136 ft.

Mr Karunanidhi expressed the hope that Kerala would approach the whole issue in a spirit of friendly neighbourliness.

Stating that Tamil Nadu had completed all major strengthening works with the concurrence of the Kerala Government, he said experts had assured that the dam was safe and there was no need for any doubt about safety aspects.

Mr Karunanidhi pointed out that raising the water level of the dam to 142 ft initially was absolutely necessary to irrigate the lands in about 200,000 acres in the drought-prone districts of Theni, Dindigul, Madurai, Sivaganga and Ramanathapuram.

UNI

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