PWD Secy will steer talks with Ker on river water issues: TN

The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday named 10 senior officials from its side for two committees that will go into river water issues including review of the 60-year-old pact on the Parambikulam Aliyar Project with Kerala.

Nearly a month after a high level meeting between Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami and his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan over water sharing, the government named senior officials to hammer out solutions to decades-old issues.

It was decided at the Chief Ministers' meeting on September 25 at Thiruvananthapuram to set up two committees at the level of secretaries, an official release said here.

Officials from both the States will form part of the two panels.

While one panel was to review the 60-year-old pact on the Parambikulam-Aliyar Project (PAP) and related issues, the other one was over implementation of Pandiyaru-Punnampuzha Scheme (PPS), the government said.

As per the decision, the Tamil Nadu government said it has named 10 members who will form part of the two panels.

Principal Secretary, Public Works Department, K Manivasan will head the Tamil Nadu side for panels on both the PAP and PPS, the government said.

Senior officials including chief of Cauvery Technical Cell, Tamil Nadu, R Subramanian and those from Public Works, Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation and two retired officers are part of the panels.

Chief Minister K Palaniswami had asserted on September 28 that steps will be taken to resolve river water issues, including Mullaperiyar, with Kerala in two months.