Lessen the height of Palar check dam to 12 ft, Jaya urges Babu

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa has urged her Andhra Pradesh counterpart, Chandrababu Naidu, not to increase the height of the Palar river check-dam, saying it was an inter-state river and the downstream State of Tamil Nadu's interests had to be protected. She wanted the height of the dam at Perumbalam in Kuppam mandal to be restricted to 12 ft. She wanted the height not to be raised or water stored. She said if the height was raised, it would go against the Madras-Mysore Agreement Of 1892. Jayalalithaa pointed out that there was less water in the river at present. About 4.2 lakh acres in Tamil Nadu were supplied irrigation water by the river. Farmers in northern Tamil Nadu districts mainly depended on the river. It was also the main source of drinking water. The TN Chief Minister further reminded that a case had been filed by the Tamil Nadu government on February 10, 2006, restraining Andhra Pradesh from taking up any type of construction on the river.