CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday asked the Centre to defer talks on the Mullaiperiyar dam issue until the Empowered Committee headed by former Chief Justice of India A S Anand, appointed on the directions of the Supreme Court, submits its report. The Central Water Commission (CWC) has scheduled a meeting for December 16 in which top officials of Kerala and Tamil Nadu governments have been invited to take part. Sources said the State government sent a fax message on Thursday morning conveying its position to the CWC.Sources said in its communication, the Tamil Nadu government contended that meaningful discussions can take place only if the talks are based on facts and scientific data to be submitted by the Empowered Committee, which has been holding various tests at the Mullaiperiyar site and talks based on unfounded fears won’t be of any use.Already, the Empowered Committee is carrying out various tests/studies on the Mullaiperiyar site, such as scanning the upstream face of the main dam below water level, cable anchor stress test, Non-Destructive Test, taking cores from the body of the dam, etc., through the Central Water Commission, CWPRS, Pune and CSMRS, Delhi, Government of India departments/organisations and other government departments. For carrying out the core sample test alone, the State government has already sanctioned `1.38 crore. Some tests have been completed and the rest are in progress. The Chief Minister has already pointed this out in her letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and her Kerala counterpart Oommen Chandy.On December 3, the Tamil Nadu government announced that it would not take part in the informal talks scheduled for December 5 at New Delhi on Mullaiperiyar issue. The Empowered Committee has already sent a technical team to the site to carry out an on-the-spot assessment. All political parties except the Congress and the DMK have urged the TN government not to take part in the talks as it would only help Kerala to dodge the issue.
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