Five crore earmarked for building new dam: Minister

Monday, December 12, 2011: State Finance Minister KM Mani today informed that the Kerala government has earmarked Rs five crore in the state budget for bulding a new dam at Mullaperiyar.
Speaking to the reporters here on Monday, Minister added that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and National parties must intervene in the issue which has seen Kerala and Tamil Nadu at loggerheads.
Mani also set a deadline of 10 days for resolving the Mullaperiyar dam issue. If the issue is not solved within the stipulated time Kerala Congress (M) faction will step up its agitation, he added.
Kerala has been pressing for its twin demands: reducing the water level to 120 feet and replacing the 116-year0old reservoir with a new one.
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. Tamil Nadu has charged Kerala with whipping up panic and moved the Supreme Court for a direction to deploy CISF at the dam site, the scene of protests.

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