PM to Jaya: Undue alarm should not be created on Mullaperiyar

Seeking to calm passions over Mullaperiyar Dam issue, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday wrote to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa saying nothing should be said or done to create "undue alarm" and hoped the issue would be sorted out amicably through dialogue.

Replying to letters written by Jayalalithaa, Singh said he had asked the Water Resources Ministry to arrange an early meeting between officials of Tamil Nadu and Kerala to "sort out outstanding issues and allay genuine concerns".

He sought Jayalalithaa's cooperation on the issue. "I have made a note of the points raised by you and also heard the issues raised by a delegation of ministers from the government of Kerala. I have pointed out to them that the matter is currently before the Supreme Court Empowered Committee," Singh wrote.

"I believe that nothing should be said or done to create undue alarm among the people," he said. The issue has triggered passions in both Tamil Nadu and Kerala which apprehends that rising water level in the dam posed a major risk to it. Tamil Nadu rejects any such fears.

Singh expressed the confidence that "given goodwill on both sides, an amicable and mutually-acceptable solution can be found through a process of dialogue and communication."

"I have accordingly advised the Ministry of Water Resources to arrange an early meeting between the officials of the two sides to sort out outstanding issues and allay genuine concerns," the prime minister told Jayalalithaa.

Kerala says fears about the weakness of the 116-year-old dam had increased since the area around the site had been shaken by 26 tremors in the last five months alone.