New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear a petition from both the Tamil Nadu and Kerala government on the Mullaperiyar Dam. The Jayalalithaa government has been asking for a court direction to prevent the Kerala government from making any further controversial statements.
Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been at loggerheads over the dam, built under an 1886 accord between the then Maharaja of Travancore and the erstwhile British Raj.
Tamil Nadu wants the dam's storage capacity to be increased from the current 136 feet (41.5 metres) to 142 feet (43 metres) as per a Supreme Court order, while Kerala wants a new dam in its place.
On December 9, the Kerala assembly passed a resolution that the central government should sanction a new dam and till this happens, the storage level in the existing dam should be brought down to 120 feet.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Sunday announced that a special session of the assembly will be convened on December 15 to pass a resolution that the state will not give up its rights over Mullaperiyar Dam in Kerala because of the "imaginary threat to its safety."
Earlier, 50 persons were injured on Sunday when police made a lathicharge to disperse protesters who gheraoed Tamil Nadu Finance Minister O Panneerselvam and allegedly threw slippers at him at the state border near Kumili after he tried to persuade them to give up their agitation on the Mullaperiyar dam issue.
Police said the minister escaped unhurt and was later taken away from the spot via another route.
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