Chennai, Nov 5 Tamil Nadu Water Resources Minister S. Duraimurugan who is leading a team of ministers and legislators from the state to the Mullaperiyar dam site has said that the state is for raising the water level in the dam to 152 feet.
The opposition AIADMK has been alleging that the DMK led government in the state was eating out of the hands of Kerala and that water was released from the dam to suit Kerala. The AIADMK said that water being released will affect the farmers of Tamil Nadu, especially in the five agrarian districts of the state.
The statement of Duraimurugan, who was speaking to reporters after visiting the dam, has not gone down well in Kerala. Congress leader and Member of Parliament from Idukki constituency Dean Kuriakose came out strongly against the TN minister's statement.
Kuriakose told ," The Supreme Court and the supervisory committee appointed by the Supreme Court has fixed the water level at 142 feet but Kerala is not acceptable to even that height and the Tamil Nadu water resources minister making such a statement cannot be allowed."
The Tamil Nadu government is in a fix after the AIADMK came out against the government and openly stated that the DMK had sold the interests of the state to Kerala. The AIADMK also announced protest marches and agitations in five southern districts to resolve the Mullaperiyar issue.
The statement of the minister that TN wants the water level in Mullaperiyar to be kept at a height of 152 m is seen by many analysts as a political statement against the AIADMK and to quell the allegations against the DMK government that it had sold out the state's interests to Kerala.
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