New Delhi: Left MPs from Tamil Nadu met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today to discuss the Mullaperiyar dam issue, seeking his intervention.
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy also wrote to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK Chief J Jayalalithaa.
Chandy in his letter has asked that water levels in the 116-year-old dam be reduced from the existing 132 feet to 120 feet immediately.
Chandy has also said that Kerala is ready to give any assurance to get it implemented. However Jayalalithaa has dismissed Kerala's concerns as alarmist. Jayalalithaa's constituency is among the 3 districts in Tamil Nadu dependent on Mullaperiyar for water.
The dam in Kerala's Idukki district supplies water to Tamil Nadu. Manmohan Singh is understood to have assured that a meeting of chief ministers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala would be arranged soon to discuss the contentious issue.
Tamil Nadu wants the dam's storage capacity to be increased by raising the dam height - from 136 feet (41.5 m) to 142 feet (43 m) to meet growing irrigation needs in the state.
Kerala, on the other hand, wants a new dam as it fears that a strong earthquake might damage the existing dam.
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