PM discussed Mullaperiyar issue with colleagues

Prime minister Manmohan Singh today discussed with his senior cabinet colleagues the Mullaperiyar dam issue over which Tamil Nadu and Kerala have been at loggerheads.

Prime minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday discussed with his senior cabinet colleagues the Mullaperiyar dam issue over which Tamil Nadu and Kerala have been at loggerheads.

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The discussion took place after the cabinet meeting during which finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home minister P Chidambaram, Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and Water Resources minister Pawan Kumar Bansal were present.

Singh had been meeting a number of delegations from Tamil Nadu and Kerala over the past week who demanded his intervention in the issue.

While Tamil Nadu wants the level of the dam, located in Kerala's Idukki district, to be raised to 142 feet from 136 feet, while Kerala wants to build a new dam near the existing structure.

Kerala chief minister Oomen Chandy had met Singh last week while his Tamil Nadu counterpart J Jayalalithaa had written three letters to the prime minister in this regard.

Singh's meeting with his senior colleagues also came in the wake of the Centre inviting officials from both states for discussions on the issue later this month.