The Hindu : No legal steps on PAP now: Minister

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 29, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

No legal steps on PAP now: Minister

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JAN. 28. Kerala did not intend to take legal steps to protect the State's interests relating to the Parambikulam-Aliyar Project (PAP) as talks for review of the pact with Tamil Nadu were in an advanced stage, the Water Resources Minister, T.M. Jacob, told the State Assembly today.

Replying to questions, Mr. Jacob said some of the clauses in the agreement signed in the 1970s were harmful to the State and this was highlighted during the ministerial and official level talks with the neighbouring State.

Kerala had also insisted that there should be a provision enabling realisation of compensation in the event of breach of clauses of the agreement, he said.

The agreement had put the water availability of the catchment areas of Lower Neerar, Perumattippalam and Thunakkadavu as 16.5 tmcft. a year.

It was agreed that 2.5 tmcft above this level would be diverted to Kerala. But the experience in the last 30 years had been that the actual availability from the Parambikulam group of dams was an average 10.135 tmcft, he said.

The agreement also said that water from the Neerar weir would be diverted to Kerala for only four months every year.

This also turned out to be harmful to the State, Mr. Jacob added. — PTI

`No formal decision on B.Ed. colleges list'

Our Special Correspondent reports: The Education Minister, Nalakath Soopy, has said that the Cabinet had not taken any formal decision to withdraw the list of B. Ed. colleges sanctioned by it.

Replying to points of order raised by the CPI(M) Deputy Legislature Party leader, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, and M. V. Jayarajan (CPI-M) in the Assembly during zero hour today, the Minister said that the Government had informed the Kerala High Court was that it was prepared to abide by any such directive by the Court.

Earlier, raising their points of order, Mr. Balakrishnan and Mr. Jayarajan took strong exception to the Government's failure to keep the House posted on the subject.

They alleged that the Government decision to scrap the list of B.Ed. colleges sanctioned by it in its entirety showed that there was corruption and manipulation in the preparation of the list.

Later, replying to a submission by K. Mohammedali (Congress), the Education Minister said the Medical Council of India had not barred fresh admissions at the cooperative medical college in Kochi.

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