Chandy: New dam only with TN nod

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Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy on Saturday asserted that his government would build a new dam to replace the 116-year-old Mullaiperiyar dam but made clear he would not undertake the work without getting the cooperation of Tamil Nadu government.

In an elaborate interaction with a group of editors flown in from Chennai for “an exchange of thoughts” on Mullaiperiyar dam, which he regretted had “become a thorny issue”, Mr Chandy said while his government could go ahead and build a new dam to safeguard lives, he did not want to do anything without involving Tamil Nadu “because we want to ensure that the good relations between the people of the two states continue”.

“Water for Tamil Nadu, safety for Kerala. We have no other hidden agenda. We passed a unanimous resolution to this effect in our Assembly. Everyone supported it. I want to tell the people of Tamil Nadu through you that we will not reduce Mullaiperiyar water supplies to Tamil Nadu on any account,” Mr Chandy said.

He said he had sent two letters to his Tamil Nadu counterpart expressing desire for negotiating a solution to the dam issue but there was no response. “I am not accusing anybody, but the (response) is not very encouraging. I can understand your chief minister’s position,” he said, adding that he explained the Kerala stand to TN finance minister O. Panneerselvam when they met at the chief ministers’ conference convened by the Union finance minister in Bengaluru sometime back.

Asked why his government could not wait for just a couple of months for the apex court to give its verdict on the dispute, since the court-constituted expert committee had given its report, Mr Chandy said a spate of tremors in Idukki region raised serious concerns about the dam’s safety. “This dam was built with old technology and they had originally said its life span is 50 years. It is now 116 years old. We want to build a new dam with modern technology that will guarantee safety even if there is a strong earthquake,” Mr Chandy said.