No question of going back on new dam: Kerala minister

Countering Tamil Nadu’s contention that Kerala was spreading unfounded scare over Mullperiyar dam issue, state minister K M Mani said there was no question of going back on its stand that a new dam alone was the solution for the long-drawn tangle. “For building a new dam in its jurisdiction, Kerala does not require permission of Tamil Nadu. It does not require anybody’s generosity and there is no question of backing out under pressure from anybody,” he said referring to TN Chief Minister’s Jayalalithaa’s signed advertisements published in newspapers on the issue. [caption id=“attachment_152876” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Mullaperiyar Dam. Wikimedia Commons”]  [/caption] “However, our wish and our request to Tamil Nadu is that the government there should co-operate with the efforts to resolve the issue amicably through dialogue,” Mani, leader of the Kerala Congress(M), said at a UDF dharna in Kottayam today. Referring to Jayalalithaa’s stand that the dam was not weak as being argued by Kerala, he claimed studies by IIT-Roorkie has found Kerala’s fears as genuine, he said. He also wanted the Centre to take initiative to facilitate meaningful dialogue between the two states. Kerala Assembly had yesterday unanimously adopted a resolution for building a new dam to replace the 116-year-old reservoir and lowering the water level to 120 feet in the existing structure. PTI