Chennai, Oct 24: Paving the way for talks between
Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, political parties in
Tamil Nadu gave the green signal to Chief Minister M
Karunanidhi to talk to his Kerala counterpart V S
Achuthanandan on the contentious Mullaiperiyar dam issue, as
per the Supreme Court's advice.
A resolution adopted at an all-party meeting, convened by
Karunanidhi, said the decision was taken as a 'goodwill
gesture' though the Kerala government had not come forward to
implement the Supreme Court's verdict, permitting Tamil Nadu
to raise the water level from the 136 feet to 142 feet.
If the talks did not produce the desired results, the
state would approach the supreme court immediately to get the
apex court's order to raise the storage level implemented, the
resolution said.
The state would also ask the court to instruct the Kerala
government to co-operate with Tamil Nadu in completing the
works regarding strengthening the Mullaperiyar dam and request
the Centre to take steps to implement the court order, it said.
Achuthanandan is expected to meet Karunanidhi here
today.
In a rare show of unanimity, DMK's arch rival AIADMK also
participated in yesterday's meeting, represented by former AIADMK
ministers O Pannerselvam and K A Sengottaiyan. Janata Party
president Dr Subramanian Swamy, who filed a public interest
litigation in the Supreme Court, was also present at the
meeting.
Bureau Report
