Mullaperiyar issue: Kerala CM Chandy to meet PM

With the standoff between Kerala and Tamil Nadu on the Mullaperiyar dam issue escalating, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tomorrow.

Claiming that the Prime Minister was "already convinced" of the state's demand for a new dam in place of the 116-year-old structure, Chandy said after a Cabinet meeting that he would once again take up the matter with him.

Chandy said he would write to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa explaining Kerala's position on the Mullaperiyar issue.

He sought to know why Jayalalithaa, who was opposing the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project in Tamil Nadu on the safety issue, was reluctant to adopt the same yardstick in the Mullaperiyar issue where the safety of three million people was involved.

"The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has been opposing the Koodankulam project on the ground of the safety of the people. Is not the issue of safety applicable in the case of people in Kerala also?" he asked.

Expressing his readiness to meet his Tamil Nadu counterpart to discuss the issue, he said, "I am ready to take the initiative to meet Jayalalithaa, if that will find a solution."