Antony meets PM, seeks peaceful solution to dam row


Thursday, December 22, 2011: Amid mounting tension between Tamil Nadu and Kerala over the Mullaperiyar Dam, Defence Minister A K Antony today met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking a peaceful solution to the dispute.
Antony also requested Prime Minister to urgently call a meeting of the two neighbouring states to find an amicable solution to the issue, which has seen Kerala and Tamil Nadu at loggerheads.
This is for the fourth time that Antony met the Prime Minister after the issue generated heat both in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, sources said. The issue has snowballed in the last few weeks with Kerala raising the pitch for the new dam citing safety concerns about the existing structure.
Kerala has been pressing for twin demands: for a new dam and lowering the water level in the reservoir to 120 feet from 136 feet as an immediate safety measure.
Kerala has been witnessing a series of protests by various political parties and social groups for a new dam in the wake of recent tremors in the region and rising water level in the dam, located in Kerala’s Idduki district but maintained by Tamil Nadu under a 999 year lease.

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