Maintaining that a Supreme Court appointed panel on Mullaperiyar Dam had accepted Kerala's demand for a new reservoir, chief minister Oommen Chandy on Friday said the state, which is locked in a row with Tamil Nadu on the issue, would bring it to the court's notice.

"The (Supreme Court appointed) Empowered Committee has accepted the idea of a new dam. We will be highlighting that in the apex court", Chandy told the assembly.

To utilise water awarded by Kaveri Tribunal

Water Resources Minister P.J. Joseph said the State would expedite steps to draw its share of water under the Kaveri Tribunal Award from the east-flowing rivers Pampar, Bhavani and Kabini. Replying to the discussion on the demands for Budget grants for his department, the Minister said the tribunal had awarded 3 tmc of water from Pampar, 6.07 tmc of water from Bhavani and 21 tmc of water from Kabani. The State was yet to take the benefit of the award.

Unhappy with the Empowered Panel report on Mullaperiyar, Kerala will file a counter-affidavit before the apex court challenging the report.

As an initial procedure, the state will file a petition seeking copies of the study reports based on which the Empowered Panel arrived at the final conclusion.Though Kerala has decided to challenge the panel’s report, to what extent it should be done will be decided after consultations with Kerala’s counsel in Delhi and other legal experts.

Even as the Empowered Committee has pointed out the possibility of a new dam as an alternative to the Mullaperiyar dispute, Kerala’s proposal regarding the same is likely to face a hard time getting the green signal from the various departments and environmental agencies.

In its report, the Empowered Committee had pointed out the possibilities for alternative solutions which includes a new reservoir. With the proposed location for the new dam falling within close proximity to the Periyar Tiger Reserve, the Forest Department is bound to have second thoughts before granting approval for any construction-related activities here.

The Kerala government was continuing to prevent free movement of construction materials required to fill up holes in the Mullaperiyar dam, said Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) general secretary Vaiko here on Thursday.

Be it a water dispute or an environmental issue that affected people of Tamil Nadu, the MDMK stood in the forefront and turned it into a people's movement, he said.

It has become clear that the report of the empowered committee appointed by the Supreme Court on the Mullaperiyar issue was one-sided and completely against the interest of Kerala, former Water Resources Minister N.K.Premachandran has said.

Inaugurating the public meet held here in connection with the completion of 2,000 days of hunger strike here, he said all the governments of Kerala supported have supported the policy for a new dam at Mullaperiyar.

Kerala on Monday said it cannot accept recommendations of the Madhav Gadgil report on Western Ghats as most of its suggestions were impractical to implement and said the State could protect its environment within provisions of existing laws.

“The Gadgil report places several restrictions on human activities in the Western Ghats and is impractical to implement in the state. Kerala can protect its environment with the provisions of the existing laws,” Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said in the Assembly.

Kochi: In the abode of Lord Ayappa, devotees seeking a darshan must take a dip in the Pampa.

Minister says letter was sent on Saturday

In response to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's allegation on Sunday that the Kerala government was preventing officials of her State from closing the holes drilled for tests on the Mullaperiyar dam, Kerala has clarified that it had written to Tamil Nadu on Saturday stating categorically that it had no objection to the work, a stance it had made clear even two months ago.

Says educated youth can be attracted to create skilled jobs

Introducing modern technology and bringing in educated youth in the primary agriculture sector will help Kerala produce its annual requirement of four million tonnes of rice from the one million hectares of land under paddy in the State, M.S. Swaminathan, visionary agriculture scientist, said here on Sunday.