CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Government on Thursday asked the Centre to defer talks on the Mullaperiyar dam issue until the Empowered Committee headed by former Chief Justice of India A S Anand, appointed on the directions of the Supreme Court, submits its report. The Central Water Commission (CWC) has scheduled a meeting for December 16 in which top officials of Kerala and Tamil Nadu Governments have been invited to take part. Sources said the Tamil Nadu Government sent the fax message conveying its position to the CWC on Thursday.The Tamil Nadu Government contended that meaningful discussions will take place only if the talks are based on facts and scientific data to be submitted by the Empowered Committee. Already, the Empowered Committee is carrying out various tests/studies on the dam site, such as scanning the upstream face of the main dam below water level, cable anchor stress test, non-destructive test, taking cores from the body of the dam. On December 3, the Tamil Nadu Government announced that it would not take part in the informal talks scheduled for December 5 in New Delhi on the issue. The Empowered Committee has already sent a two-member technical team to the site of the dam to carry out an on-the-spot assessment of the claims made by both the states.
Comments
0 comment