CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu has decided not to have any further talks with Kerala on the Mullaperiyar issue, as no purpose will be served, Public Works Department Minister Durai Murugan told the Assembly on Thursday.

Replying to Congress members S. Peter Alphonse and C. Gnanasekaran, who raised the issue during zero hour, Mr. Durai Murugan said the State's stand was made clear by Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi in his letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which was handed over on Wednesday.

The Chief Minister informed Dr. Singh that the State had no other option but to move the Supreme Court again.

He was confident that the State would definitely succeed as justice and fairness were on its side.

"Fears baseless"

The Minister said Tamil Nadu agreed for talks pursuant to the Supreme Court's suggestion that the issue could be resolved through talks between the States in the presence of the Central Government.

This was not possible as Kerala insisted on constructing a new dam, which was not found feasible by a team of engineers in 1979 after an inspection. Kerala's fears over the strength of the dam were baseless.

Even if the dam collapsed due to some unforeseen circumstances, the entire water (11 tmcft) would reach the Idukki reservoir, which had a capacity of 55 tmcft.

Kerala's propaganda

Tamil Nadu was ready to give up its demand on the reservoir even if there was a single death in Kerala due to water flow from the dam. Kerala's propaganda that five districts in their State would be submerged and about 35 lakh people drowned if the dam collapsed had no basis.

It would not stand legal scrutiny and would only help incite passions. The State was for Central Industrial Security Force protection to the dam as it had no confidence in Kerala police personnel after the recent damage to a parapet.

Palar issue

The Minister also assured the House that the Andhra Pradesh Government had agreed to consult Tamil Nadu before taking a decision on constructing a dam across the Palar.

During his visit to New Delhi he met Union Environment Minister A. Raja who informed him that the Andhra Pradesh Government had not approached the Ministry seeking permission to construct the dam in the reserve forests area. If the Andhra Pradesh Government made attempts to construct the dam, then Tamil Nadu would have no alternative but to move the court.

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