Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

UDF stance vindicated: Thiruvanchoor

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The former Water Resources Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan said here on Saturday that the outcome of the recent inter-State river water talks vindicated the Opposition stance that the State government should push for a package deal to settle river water issues with Tamil Nadu.

Reacting to the outcome of Friday’s Chief Secretary-level talks, Mr. Radhakrishnan said the Tamil Nadu government’s moves were predictable.

He told The Hindu that the government should take the initiative to seek the opinion of officials and leaders who were involved in the previous four major rounds of talks as well as the Opposition parties before the meeting to be held in August.

The Tamil Nadu government had challenged the State government’s actions on Mullaperiyar even after Kerala’s gesture on the Neyyar waters. It had challenged in courts or disputed at the discussion some of the provisions in individual agreements on river water-sharing, whether it is Mullaperiyar or the Parambikulam group. It is in this context that the plea for a package deal on all river water issues becomes relevant, he explained.

Mr. Radhakrishnan recalled that the UDF government had held four rounds of talks with Tamil Nadu at various levels, including Chief Minister and ministerial levels. It was resolved at these discussions that 101 buildings in the Parambikulam Aliyar area would be handed over to Kerala immediately and the remaining 86 would be handed back in a time-bound manner. He expressed concern at Tamil Nadu’s continued violation of the existing Parambikulam-Aliyar agreement. He suggested that the Kerala government should push for the Anamalayar scheme.

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