CHENNAI: Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Sunday held detailed discussions about State-specific issues, including the Mullaiperiyar dispute, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and stuck to the Tamil Nadu stand on the dam issue.The discussions lasted for about 40 minutes at the Raj Bhavan here. The CM submitted a 16-page memorandum to the PM on the occasion. Earlier, Jayalalithaa and senior colleagues of her Cabinet received the Prime Minister at the airport by offering a shawl.During the talks, Jayalalithaa requested Manmohan Singh to advise the Kerala government to honour the order of the Supreme Court given on February 27, 2006, for raising the water level of the Mullaiperiyar dam initially from 136 ft to 142 ft and to make appropriate amendments to the Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2006. Jayalalithaa also requested the PM to advise the Kerala government not to undertake the construction of a new dam since the retrofitted Mullaiperiyar dam was safe and functioning well.Jayalalithaa said Kerala should be advised not to obstruct but to co-operate with the Tamil Nadu government in carrying out the remaining strengthening works suggested by the Central Water Commission and the routine maintenance works.The Centre should ask Kerala to remove all the encroachments that have come up in the leased area and should deploy Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to safeguard the Mullaiperiyar dam and its appurtenant structures in the leased area, she said.Besides, the National Disaster Management Authority should be directed to withdraw the notification of the team of experts constituted for formulating a Contingency Response Plan for the Mullaiperiyar dam.
Comments
0 comment