The meeting is expected to touch on various other issues affecting the two States, including review of the Parambikulam-Aliyar project, diversion of West flowing rivers, Pamba-Achankoil-Vaippar link project and Pandiyar-Punnampuzha project. The talks would be a prelude to the meeting between the Chief Ministers of the two States. While PWD Minister Durai Murugan would represent Tamil Nadu, Kerala would be represented by its Irrigation Minister Ramakrishna Pillai. Officials of the respective State governments would accompany the Ministers during the talks.

An official press release on Saturday said the meeting between the two ministers precedes the letter written by Kerala Chief Minister E K Nayanar to his TN counterpartM Karunanidhi on June 30 suggesting holding such talks in Chennai or Thiruvananthapuram at a mutually convenient date. Following this, the TN CM asked the PWD Ministry to contact the Kerala government immediately and fix-up date for the talks at Thiruvananthapuram. Later, the TN PWD Secretary contacted Kerala's Irrigation Secretary and spoke about fixing the date for the talks. Even Durai Murugan wrote a letter to Ramakrishna Pillai on July 3 expressing his willingness to hold talks any time after July 10. He wanted the Kerala Minister to inform him the convenient date for the talks, the release added.

Meanwhile, the TN government has announced that the water from the Periyar dam's main canal would be released from 6 a.m. on July 10 to irrigate 45,041 acres of land for the first crop in Madurai North, Vadipatti and Nilakkottai taluks. Farmers whose agricultural lands are linked to the channels from the main sluice up to the new sluice at Kallanthiri have been asked to utilise the water economically fortheir short-term crop.