Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday assured DMK president M.
Karunanidhi that the central government would consider providing
security to the Mullaperiyar Dam in Kerala.
According to a statement issued by the DMK party here, the assurance
was given to Karunanidhi who led a delegation of party leaders to meet
the prime minister at Raj Bhavan to present a memorandum.
During the 20-minute meeting, Karunanidhi explained Tamil Nadu's case
and urged Manmohan Singh to take steps to end attacks on Tamils in
Kerala in the wake of the dam row.
After hearing Karunanidhi, the prime minister agreed that the cordial
relations that existed between the people of the two states should not
be affected and the central government would take action to bring back
normalcy in both the states, the statement said.
Manmohan Singh assured the DMK chief that the central government would
consider providing security cover to the dam.
A Central Industrial Security Force cover for the dam has been a major
demand of all political parties in Tamil Nadu.
The former chief minister highlighted the Supreme Court's 2006 order
to increase the water storage level of the dam to 142 ft from the
current 136 ft, urging the prime minister to ensure that Kerala
complied with the court order.
Karunanidhi, accompanied by union minister M.K. Alagiri, parliament
members T.R. Baalu and Kanimozhi and party leader K. Anbazhagan, among
others, requested the prime minister to advise Kerala to cooperate
with Tamil Nadu.
Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been at loggerheads over the dam, built
under an 1886 accord between the then Maharaja of Travancore and the
erstwhile British Raj. While it is located in Kerala, its waters serve
Tamil Nadu.
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