Within 24 hours of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa raising the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Centre told Tamil Nadu on Monday it had deferred constituting an expert team to draw a 'contingency response plan' in the event of a disaster striking the Mullaiperiyar dam.
Ms. Jayalalithaa had expressed shock at the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) plan to set up the expert team which in effect could help Kerala pressure the empowered committee (EC) appointed by the Supreme Court to declare the dam unsafe.
The chief minister had said the NDMA move was nothing but succumbing to the subterfuge of the Kerala government and presenting a fait accompli to the apex court and its empowered committee.
Sources said NDMA, which functions under PM, had told Tamil Nadu that the expert team would not be formed until EC gives its report.
The NDMA team was to plan 'inundation and submergence models' to tackle disasters such as an earthquake, while the true position as explained more than once by the chief minister in her letters to PM is that the dam is 'as strong as new'.
Meanwhile, M. Karunanidhi said in a statement that the Centre 'would consider deploying Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to protect the Mullaiperiyar dam' and also take steps to ensure relations between Tamil Nadu and Kerala do not sour further due to the row over the reservoir.
Several political leaders in Tamil Nadu, including the Chief Minister, had demanded that the Centre deploy the CISF after some people in Kerala tried to damage the dam recently.