Mullaperiyar dam row: Not against giving water to Tamil Nadu says Oommen Chandy

Chennai: Ahead of a discussion in the Kerala Assembly on the Mullaperiyar reservoir issue on Monday in the wake of the Supreme Court rejecting the state's contention that the dam was unsafe, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Sunday said his government was concerned about the safety of people in his state.

"We are concerned about the safety of our people. I have always said publicly that we are not against giving water to Tamil Nadu. We are for it. We are only requesting water for Tamil Nadu and safety for Kerala people," Chandy told reporters here, while on a personal visit.

To a query on reports that a water source to Siruvani river, which is also the drinking water source to Coimbatore city, was blocked by Kerala government, he said, "Our position is very clear. We want to settle every thing by talks." Kerala Assembly would take up on the first day of the monsoon session under Assembly Rule 130, the Mullaiperiyar dam issue tomorrow, in the wake of the Supreme Court rejecting the state's contention that the 119-year-old dam was unsafe.

Opposition leader in the House V S Achuthanandan would move a resolution on the new circumstance that had taken shape after the apex court order, Assembly Speaker G Karthikeyan had said last week. A substantive motion moved by Chandy would be passed and sentences and words of that motion would be decided on the basis of debate, Karthikeyan had said.

In a major setback to the Kerala government which has been fighting a decade-old legal battle with neighbouring Tamil Nadu, the Supreme Court on May 7 had struck down a law promulgated by it declaring Mullaperiyar dam as endangered and fixing the water level at 136 feet.