All out efforts made to raise Mullaiperiyar water level: Jayalalithaa

SRIRANGAM: The TN government is going all out to raise the water level up to 142 feet in the Mullaiperiyar dam in the first phase as per the Supreme Court’s direction, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa said.

Inaugurating the completed projects at a function held here on Monday, Ms Jayalalithaa said that the Supreme Court had delivered a fair verdict following the strong arguments put forth by the state government.

She pointed out that the Union cabinet had given its approval for appointing a member from the Central Water Commission for the three-member monitoring committee while the other two members had been nominated by the TN and Kerala states respectively. Soon after the constitution of this committee, measures would be taken to raise the water level in the Mullaiperiyar dam to 142 feet, she added.

She also claimed that the AIADMK government had achieved several aims in the last three years, including the gazetting of the final award of the Cauvery river water disputes tribunal by approaching the apex court.

“The Tamil Nadu government is continuously pressurising the Union government for constituting the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) to monitor the flow of water in order to protect TN’s rights in the water issue,” she said.