Harping on the danger posed by the old Mullaperiyar dam, Kerala wanted Tamil Nadu government to come forward for talks on the proposal to construct a new dam.
Harping on the 'grim danger' posed by 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam, Kerala today wanted the Tamil Nadu government to come forward for talks on the proposal to construct a new dam, the entire cost of which would be borne by the state.
After Water Resource Minister PJ Joseph urged Tamil Nadu for a dialogue to settle the long-pending issue between the two states, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the state's prime concern was safety of the people and that Kerala was ready to bear the expense for building a new dam.
"We are ready to bear the full cost for construction of the new dam as safety of the people is our main concern, he told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
Chandy assured Tamil Nadu that they would be given the same quantity of water which they had been getting over the years even after a new dam was built.
Kerala's slogan on Mullperiyar is "water for Tamil Nadu and Safety for Kerala."
Chandy said Kerala was also ready to give an undertaking before the Supreme Court and also the Empowered Committee that the state would not curtail the quantity of water channelled to Tamil Nadu.
"We have already informed our stand to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Water Resources Minister P K Bansal" Chandy added.
Asked about the row over the film Dam-999, Chandy said the state had nothing to do with that controversy and also did not know about the film.
Earlier, at a press meet, Joseph said it had become all the more urgent to start construction of a new dam in view of anxiety caused by recurrence of tremors around the dam site.
Any further delay in construction of a new dam and decommissioning of the existing one would be putting at stake the lives of three million people in downstream areas,he said.
It would be difficult even to save the lives of people. If Mullaperiyar dam fails, its storage would flow into Idukki, Cheruthoni and Kulamavu dams and make them overflow to downstream areas, he said.
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