The Hindu : Kerala News : Chief Minister to meet Karunanidhi today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 10, 2006

Kerala

Kerala

Chief Minister to meet Karunanidhi today

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan will meet his Tamil Nadu counterpart, M. Karunanidhi, here on Saturday evening.

The row over restoration of water level of the Mullaperiyar dam is likely to figure in the talks. In March, the Kerala Assembly adopted a legislation to amend the Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation Act that sought to prohibit the raising of the level in the dam beyond 136 feet. This development follows the Supreme Court order to Kerala to allow the level to be raised from 136 to 142 feet.

Another issue that may figure is the release of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader Abdul Nasir Maudany, who is lodged in Coimbatore jail in connection with a blast case. Three months ago, the Kerala Assembly adopted a resolution urging the Centre to intervene on "humanitarian grounds" and this was supported both by the Congress and the Left.

In November 2004, the then Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy took up the matter of Mr. Maudany's release with his Tamil Nadu counterpart Jayalalithaa, on the sidelines of the talks for review of the Parambikulam-Aliyar river water agreement. But, this did not yield any positive result.

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