Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today reportedly assured DMK that the Centre might consider providing security cover to Mullaperiyar dam over which Tamil Nadu and Kerala are locked in a raging row.
After his meeting with the Prime Minister, DMK supremo and former TN Chief Minister M Karunanidhi said the party was also assured that Centre would take all steps to maintain friendly ties between the two neighbouring states and ensure return of normalcy there in the wake of the Mullaperiyar row.
Leading a 12-member delegation, Karunanidhi along with his daughter and party MP Kanimozhi met Singh at the Raj Bhavan and submitted a memorandum seeking his intervention to end reproted attacks on Tamils in Kerala after the row erupted afresh following Kerala's insistence on building a new dam in place of the 116-year-old reservoir.
"After listening to the delegation, the Prime Minister said the Centre would take all steps to ensure the long standing relationship between the two states is not strained and peace and normal life returns", Karunanidhi said in a statement.
According to Karunanidhi, Singh also said the Centre might examine the possibility of protecting the dam by itself.
The DMK had earlier requested the chairman of the Supreme Court-appointed Empowered Committee on the dam issue to deploy Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at the reservoir site, instead of Kerala police.
Alleging that the continued campaign by Kerala had resulted in many 'undesirable incidents' creating animosity between people of the two states, the memorandum said it had forced Tamils living in Kerala to leave that state.
Defence Minister AK Antony said Centre would spare no effort to find a solution to the dam row.
"The Centre's efforts to find an amicable solution to the vexed issue have not been fruitful so far. But that does not mean the government will lose heart and abandon efforts in that direction," he told reporters in Thrissur.
Meanwhile, DMDK founder Vijaykant and over 200 of his party workers were arrested at the Saidapet area in the city after they tried to stage a black flag demonstration against the Prime Minister over the Mullaperiyar issue.
