Mullaiperiyar: Kerala MPs urge PM to intervene

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday assured a delegation of MPs from Kerala that the Centre would take an initiative to resolve the differences between Kerala and Tamil Nadu over the Mullaiperiyar dam. He also advised them to ensure that the issue does not take an emotive turn resulting in tensions between the people of the two states.

The delegation of MPs had gone to the Prime Minister requesting him to convene a meeting of the chief ministers of Kerala and Tamil Nadu to discuss the safety of the 116-year-old dam.

The MPs urged the Prime Minister to impress upon Tamil Nadu to allow Kerala to construct a new dam. The Prime Minister was of the view that there should not be any campaign to create differences and tension between the two states on this issue.

The MPs also informed the Prime Minister that the people of the state have nothing to do with the campaign,including a film allegedly based on the Mullaiperiyar dam that has been banned in Tamil Nadu.