Noisy scenes for 2nd day in assembly over TN's claim on dams

Noisy scenes were witnessed for the second consecutive day today in the assembly over Tamil Nadu's claim on four dams located within the state, even as Chief Minister Oommen Chandy made it clear that these dams would continue to be part of Kerala.
The ruckus started after Chandy made a statement in this regard as assured to Jameela Prakasham of JD-S when she raised the issue yesterday.
She had stated that Tamil Nadu government's request to add the word 'owned' along with 'operated and maintained' in the National Register of Large Dams was accepted at a meeting of National Committee on Dam Safety (NCDS) in December last.

Chandy said minutes of the NCDS meeting showed that Tamil Nadu's request had been accepted, but the four dams -- Mullaperiyar, Thunacadavu, Peruvaripallam and Parmabikkulam -- continued to be in the list of Kerala with a footnote 'four dams are located in Kerala and are operated and maintained by PWD of Tamil Nadu."
He said Kerala government had already brought the matter to the notice of the Committee and would ensure that necessary modifications were done and added that the interest of the state would be protected.
To opposition's charge that the Kerala official present at the meeting had failed to object to the neighbouring state's claim over these dams, Chandy said that as per his explanation, the issue was not a part of the agenda of the NCDS meeting held on December 27, 2013.

However, Chandy said the official should have been more vigilant.

He also brought to the notice of the house the Central Water Commission's disclaimer that the information given in NRLD was not binding on any party and does not confer right or restrictions to any party and that CWC was willing to rectify erroneous information, if any, brought to its notice.
Not satisfied with the explanation, opposition members moved to the well of the house, holding that the government viewed the issue very lightly, prompting Speaker G Karthikeyan to adjourn the house.
The Speaker later held a meeting with Opposition leaders, seeking a solution to resolve the crisis.

When the house re-assembled after an hour, the Speaker announced that the assembly Subject Committee of Water Resources would scrutinise all documents referred to by the Chief Minister, which were placed on the table of the house.