'Mullaperiyar no inter-State issue'

By George Jacob

KOTTAYAM, OCT. 15. The LDF Government would in no way bow to any decision detrimental to the interests of the State on the controversial Mullaperiyar issue, the Irrigation Minister, Mr. V.P. Ramakrishna Pillai said here today.

Speaking to The Hindu, the Minister said that raising the water level at the century-old dam was out of question under the present circumstances.

When his attention was drawn to the fact that the recent media reports regarding the visit of the experts' committee to the dam site had scared the people in at least three districts, viz. Idukki, Ernakulam and Kottayam, regarding the security of the dam, the Minister made it clear that there was no need for panic as the Government would not agree to any decision regarding raising the water level. He pointed out that from the outset, the State Government had its reservations regarding the constitution of the experts' committee which inspected the dam site recently. These reservations were expressed by the Chief Minister in the form of letters to the Prime Minister twice, but there was no response from the PMO, he said.

The Minister also said the State Government was not satisfied with the type of inspection conducted by the experts' committee since the strength of the dam was not examined using established scientific methods.

He, however, pointed out that the State Government would wait till the final report came. It is not proper to comment till the final report of the experts' committee was made available for examination. He hoped the Central Government would seek the opinion of the State Government once the report was finalised. The State Government would convey its opinion at that point, he said.

The Minister said the present media hype on the possible outcome of the report of the experts' panel (which according to reports, would be detrimental to the interests of the State) would only serve to create a fear psychosis, in the minds of the people, which was unnecessary.

The State's perception on the Mullaperiyar issue differed from that of Tamil Nadu basically on the fact that this was not an ``inter-State water dispute''. ``We are speaking of water originating from Kerala, flowing through the State and being stored within the territorial boundary of the State and not about the sharing of water from a river flowing through different States,'' Mr. Pillai said.

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