‘Amicable solution to Periyar dam row’

Ram Madhav’s remarks assume significance in wake of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s stated position that a new dam in the downstream the more than a century-old existing structure could be achieved only with the support of the Tamil Nadu government and the Centre. 

“Mullaiperiyar issue has been simmering between two states for a very long time. Our government will certainly do everything possible for both these sides to come to an amicable understanding on this issue,” Ram Madhav, flanked by Union ministers Suresh Prabhu and Sanjiv Kumar Balyan, said. His response came when asked whether the party-led Union government would step in to find a solution to the problem. 

The two states are at loggerheads over the Mullaiperiyar dam, located in Idduki district of Kerala but is under the administrative control of Tamil Nadu as per a 999-year lease agreement and caters to irrigation requirements in southern districts of Tamil Nadu. 

While Kerala had been pressing for a new reservoir on the ground that the existing dam was in a dilapidated state and weak, Tamil Nadu is opposing it saying the structure was safe.