Tamil Nadu CM writes to PM over Kerala proposal for new dam

Chennai, Oct 24 The Tamil Nadu government Wednesday composed a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, opposing the Center's gesture to Kerala's proposal to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment Study for development of a new dam in place of the current Mullaperiyar reservoir.

In the letter, Chief Minister K Palaniswami said a council under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had a month ago prescribed for give of Terms of Reference of Kerala's proposition to direct the Environmental Impact Assessment Study for the development of another dam.

"This has caused great apprehension and consternation among the people of Tamil Nadu," he stated, adding that the move abused the Supreme Court arrange on the issue over which the two states are secured question.

Palaniswami said the Expert Appraisal Committee for River Valley and Hydro Electric Projects had made the proposal at a meeting held on September 27.

Kerala government moving toward the Centre on the issue and the last entertaining it were "in gross violation of the decree" of the Supreme Court on the inter-state dispute, the chief minister said.

Citing from the May 2014 court verdict, he stated: "For the construction of aa new dam, there must be agreement of both the parties. The offer made by Kerala can't be pushed onto Tamil Nadu."

He further said Kerala had in August 2014 "stealthily" got leeway for such an investigation for the development of another dam without educating or counseling Tamil Nadu or acquiring its concurrence on the issue.

This was "in utter defiance" of the court proclaim, he stated, and reviewed that Tamil Nadu needed to later issue a disdain see against the part secretary of the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife and Wildlife Preservation Officer.

He attracted Modi's thoughtfulness regarding then boss clergyman J Jayalalithaa's letter to him in June 2015 looking for his intercession to educate the Environment Ministry and its offices to "stop from engaging and considering" Kerala's proposition in future.

Following this, the Center had delisted Kerala's proposition in July 2015, he said.

Palaniswami encouraged the head administrator to actually intercede and guide the Environment Ministry to forthwith pull back the proposals to concede Terms of Reference for the examination.

The chief minister also asked for Modi to guide the Environment Ministry to halt from engaging any future proposition by Kerala on another dam, and "also to negate the proposals which are in violation the requests of the Supreme Court."

The hundreds of years old Mullaperiyar dam is situated in high-go Idukki region of Kerala and is worked by Tamil Nadu under a between state agreement.

Kerala has been demanding building another dam, refering to security worries of the current structure.

In its May 2014 verdict, the peak court had permitted Tamil Nadu to raise the capacity at Mullaperiyar to 142 feet and at last to 152 feet subsequent to finishing fortifying measures on the dam.