Help Kerala reconstruct Mullaperiyar dam: CM asks PM

New Delhi, Mar 31 (UNI) Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan today submitted a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, seeking the Centre's help for the state in the reconstruction of the controversial Mullaperiyar dam, managed and maintained by Tamil Nadu.

Talking to reporters after meeting Dr Singh, the Chief Minister said he had conveyed to the Prime Minister that Kerala would start the reconstruction work soon as the lives of about 35 lakh population were at stake.

He said Dr Singh assured him that the Centre would pursue the issue with the Tamil Nadu government in a bid to resolve it amicably.

Tamil Nadu is opposed to the reconstruction.

The Chief Minister said he also took up with the Centre the proposed Vizhinjam port project and the Supreme Court ban on the use of fire crackers in temples in the night and the stay on OBC quota.

The Kerala government would like the Centre to issue a global tender for the port project as Russia was interested in it. Since Russia owed rupee-rouble debt to India, giving the project to Moscow would benefit both the countries, he said.

On the apex court ban on fire crackers, he said the order had been passed on the basis of a Central environmental law. The law should be amended to enable the court to lift the ban.

The Kerala government would like the Centre to act fast on the OBC issue to enable immediate implementation of the OBC quota for students, Mr Achuthanandan said.

His government wanted to invite Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for the 50th anniversary of the communist rule in Kerala. The Centre's help was sought in this regard, the CM said.

UNI