Chennai, Oct 30 Tamil Nadu's former Chief Minister and AIADMK Coordinator O. Panneerselvam on Saturday asked Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to clarify the reasons for releasing water from the Mullaperiyar Dam to Kerala.
He sought to know the necessity of releasing water from the dam, that is owned and controlled by Tamil Nadu, when the water level has not reached the apex court allowed 142 feet.
He also asked Stalin to clarify whether the water was released by Tamil Nadu government officials or by the Kerala government on its own and if it was the latter, why the officials of the former were present there at that time.
Panneerselvam said the farmers in five Tamil Nadu districts feel that the government is favouring Kerala.
Similarly, NTK leader Seeman has said it is shocking to see Kerala Ministers releasing the water from the Mullaperiyar Dam even before the storage touched the Supreme Court fixed level.
Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been at loggerheads over the dam, built under an 1886 accord between the then Maharaja of Travancore and the then British Raj.
Though the dam is located in Kerala, it is owned, maintained and operated by Tamil Nadu.
The Supreme Court May 5, 2014 had decreed in favour of Tamil Nadu, permitting it to raise the water level in the dam to 142 feet from its earlier storage level of 136 feet.
In 2012, the Supreme Court empowered committee had said the Mullaperiyar Dam is structurally safe.
Even in 2006, the apex court had said that Kerala cannot obstruct Tamil Nadu from increasing the water level in the dam to 142 feet and from carrying out repair works.
The Kerala government wants to build a new dam so that its control will be with it.
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