The Tamil Nadu government Wednesday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, opposing the Centre's nod to Kerala's proposal to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment Study for construction of a new dam in place of the existing Mullaperiyar reservoir.
In the letter, Chief Minister K Palaniswami said a committee under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had last month recommended for grant of Terms of Reference of Kerala's proposal to conduct the Environmental Impact Assessment Study for the construction of a new dam.
"This has caused great apprehension and consternation among the people of Tamil Nadu," he said, adding that the move violated the Supreme Court order on the issue over which the two states are locked in dispute.
Palaniswami said the Expert Appraisal Committee for River Valley and Hydro Electric Projects had made the recommendation at a meeting held on September 27.
Kerala government approaching the Centre on the issue and the latter entertaining it were "in gross violation of the decree" of the Supreme Court on the inter-state dispute, the chief minister said.
Quoting from the May 2014 court verdict, he said: "For the construction of a new dam, there has to be agreement of both the parties. The offer made by Kerala cannot be thrust upon Tamil Nadu."
The chief minister also requested Modi to direct the Environment Ministry to desist from entertaining any future proposal by Kerala on a new dam, and "also to negate the proposals which are in violation of the orders of the Supreme Court."