Kerala sad over SC verdict; all party meeting on May 12

Kerala today said it was disappointed that Supreme court verdict had not taken into account safety concerns of the state over the century-old Mullaperiyar dam while passing order and stated it would convene an all party meeting on May 12 to discuss further steps to be taken.
"We are sad that the safety concern of the state was not taken into consideration. Kerala was never against supplying water to Tamil Nadu and is only concerned about the dam's safety", Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told reporters here.
On criticism that the state had failed to present its case properly in the court, he said there was no point in blaming anyone at this juncture. The focus was now to have a united approach to the issue with safety as its main point, he said.

Congress-led UDF government had yesterday decided to file a review petition seeking redressal of the state's grievances following the Supreme court order.
The Apex court had held that the dam was safe and allowed the Tamil Nadu Government to raise the water level to 142 feet and ultimately to 152 feet after completion of strengthening measures on the dam.
Tamil Nadu and Kerala have for long been at loggerheads over the dam safety issue. While Tamil Nadu contended that the dam was safe and its water level had to be raised from 132 feet to 136 feet, Kerala had maintained that the structure was weak and needed to be replaced.

For the last two years, people in Idukki district where the dam exists have been on an agitational path, demanding that the dam be decommissioned.