Mullaiperiyar water case: Tamil Nadu, Kerala officers will talk it out

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu and Kerala on Thursday decided to resume officers-level talks to sort out differences between the two states on sharing of Mullaiperiyar water.

The decision was taken during the meeting between Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan at the secretariat here. Vijayan, who was here to attend a conclave, met Palaniswami for nearly 15 minutes and discussed all issues between Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Official sources said the two Chief Ministers underlined the need to solve all outstanding issues between the states on sharing of the Mullaiperiyar water. The states have been fighting the battle in Supreme Court on raising the height of the more than 100-year-old dam in Kerala's Idukki district.

While the Tamil Nadu Government wants the height of the dam to be increased to 142 feet, the Kerala Government says any increase from the current 136 feet would endanger the lives of lakhs of people in three districts in the state.

“We held discussions on resolving the issues and as a first step, we have decided to ask our officers to hold meetings to find solution to the problem. Officers of both Tamil Nadu and Kerala will sit and talk (on how to resolve) Mullaiperiyar and other issues,” Vijayan told reporters after the meeting.

He also emphasised the “brotherly relations” between the two states and how their livelihood and culture were inter twined. Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala had met several times in New Delhi at the insistence of the Union government on resolving the outstanding issues, but those have ended only without reaching any understanding.

Tamil Nadu has been dead opposed to Kerala's plan of building a new dam close to the existing structure.

Though the dam is located in Kerala, Tamil Nadu public works department manages and maintains it.