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Achuthanandan recalls MGR's promise on dam

Special Correspondent

He had assured that water level would be retained at 136 ft

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : The former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister the late M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) had assured the former Prime Minister the late Charan Singh to strengthen the Mullaperiyar dam and retain the water level at 136 feet, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan has said.

Mr. Achuthanandan told reporters here on Tuesday that MGR had made the commitments in a letter to Charan Singh on November 28, 1979. The former Janata Dal Legislature Party leader K. Chandrasekharan had taken up the Mullaperiyar issue with the then Prime Minister. Charan Singh then wrote a letter to MGR on November 11, 1979, stating that a Central Water Commission team had studied the problem and sent proposals to the Tamil Nadu Government to strengthen the dam by earth-backing. "Recently, the Chief Engineer, Tamil Nadu, has informed the Central Water Commission that this cannot be done due to the non-availability of the material, but he felt that as the water level is below RL 140 feet, there is no imminent danger to the safety of the dam," he said in the letter. The then Irrigation Secretary of Kerala had taken up the matter with the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary suggesting that the work should be done within the next few months. MGR said in his reply that "the Chairman, Central Water Commission inspected the dam on November 23. After his discussions with the officers of the Governments of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, certain proposals had been made for the immediate strengthening of the dam, for the provision of additional spilling capacity and for keeping the reservoir level at +136 ft."

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