CHENNAI: It would not be possible for Tamil Nadu to participate in the Mullaperiyar talks scheduled for November 29 if the Kerala Government continued to indulge in "unfair and provocative actions," Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said here on Thursday.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he said the Centre should "immediately step in and stop" the "unlawful activities" being indulged in by Kerala. Detailing a series of "provocative actions" by Kerala, Mr. Karunanidhi said the latest involved the visit to the dam site on Thursday of 17 Navy personnel, including divers, under the supervision of an Inspector General of Police of Kerala.

"It is astonishing that in a dam owned and maintained by the Government of Tamil Nadu, the Government of Kerala has taken a unilateral action to deliberately interfere with the safety of the dam without taking permission from the Government of Tamil Nadu... An activity of this type is not in order," Mr. Karunanidhi said in the letter.

"We may have to approach the Supreme Court directly and place all the happenings that have occurred after the orders of the Supreme Court on February 27, 2006 and after the observation of the Supreme Court on September 25, 2006," he said. The "intimidating and precipitating action" of the Kerala Government on the eve of the talks between the two States was "totally unwarranted and uncalled for."

`Ill-informed statements'

Talking to reporters, Mr. Karunanidhi said "ill-informed statements" by Kerala Ministers, the attempt to prevent Tamil Nadu PWD Minister Durai Murugan from visiting the site were all provocative acts. Tamil Nadu had so far not reacted in similar fashion.

"In these circumstances, what good will come out of [our] participation in the talks," he said in response to a question.

On the charge that Tamil Nadu was only interested in profits from power generation from the dam and not the safety of people in the area, Electricity Minister Arcot N. Veerasamy said the production at Mullaperiyar was 140 MW, which constituted 1.38 per cent of the power produced in the State.

Tamil Nadu was a power surplus State and did not need to depend on this source for its needs. It wanted water for its farmers in the southern districts and also to meet its drinking water requirements.

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