With the tussle over Mullaperiyar dam reaching a flashpoint, parliamentarians from Kerala on Friday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and sought his intervention to ensure that the state's "genuine" concerns about the safety of the reservoir is addressed.
The MPs told the prime minister that Kerala was not against giving water to Tamil Nadu as per the agreement, but asserted that raising the storage level in the 111-year-old dam above the safety mark of 136 feet was fraught with grave danger.
"We told the prime minister that Kerala was ready to give Tamil Nadu its due share of water, but it should not come at the cost of the safety of the reservoir and people," Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP P Karunakaran told PTI in New Delhi.
The delegation asked Dr Singh to intervene in the dam row immediately as the emotive issue was threatening to assume dangerous proportions and ruining friendly relations between the neighbours. They also submitted a memorandum containing their demands to Dr Singh.
"An amicable solution needs to be found immediately. This is an emotional issue for the people of both the states and the situation can go out of control if a solution eludes for long," he added.
The prime minister said he was confident that the stalemate would end at the talks between chief ministers of both the states convened by the Centre on November 29.
The neighbouring states had been at loggerheads over raising of the water level in the dam. While Kerala is against raising the level above 136 feet on safety grounds, Tamil Nadu wants it to be raised to 142 feet.
