Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has expressed hope that Kerala and Tamil Nadu will arrive at an amicable settlement over the Mullaperiyar dam issue.
Inaugurating his ‘mass contact' programme at the Government Victoria College grounds here on Thursday, Mr. Chandy said “Kerala was ready to give the entire Mullaperiyar waters to Tamil Nadu even after the construction of the new dam to replace the century-old dam.”
The Chief Minister said Kerala wanted to continue it cordial relations with Tamil Nadu. All the political parties in the State are united in this stand along with the people. So Tamil Nadu need not have any fears that it will not get all the waters of the Mullaperiyar if a new dam was constructed.
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He said “Kerala had always promised that Tamil Nadu would continue to receive the same quantity of water from the proposed new dam. There was consensus across the political spectrum in Kerala on supplying water to Tamil Nadu.”
He said the State government had taken stern action against attempts to create problems in the existing good relations between the two neighbours. It had imposed prohibitory orders in some places in Idukki to curb any attempts to vitiate the atmosphere.
The Chief Minister appreciated the stand taken by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa against violence in some parts of Tamil Nadu against Keralites.
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