Kerala Ministers reiterated that the level of the storage in the surki-lime dam could not be raised beyond 136 feet while TN Public Works Department Minister Durai Murugan cited the Central Water Commission observation in his defence and said it was time to consider raising the storage level.

The safety evaluation would be undertaken by technical committees from the two sides. They would submit their reports to respective Governments, after which the next round of ministerial talks would resume, in Chennai. Irrigation Secretaries of Kerala and Tamil Nadu would constitute technical committees who would hold joint sessions and inspect the dam, located in the Periyar valley in Idukki.

``Talks were held in a very cordial atmosphere,'' the Ministers told mediapersonsafter the meeting. Durai Murugan said, ``After all we are brothers. We have to address your genuine fears. So would you have to''.

Kerala was represented by the Cabinet sub-committee comprising Irrigation Minister V P Ramakrishna Pillai, Law Minister E Chandrasekharan Nair, Finance Minister T Sivadasa Menon and Power Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. They maintained that any increase in the storage would endanger safety of the dam and put at risk populations in several districts.

A statement issued by the Kerala Law Minister's office said: ``The Tamil Nadu Minister suggested that the entire inter-State river water issues might be discussed. The Kerala Ministers were of the view that Mullapperiyar dam issue need alone be discussed on Thursday. The other issues can be discussed later.''

TN's suggestion to open discussions on all inter-State river water issues as part of a comprehensive settlement had come as a bit of surprise given Kerala's position that it had been wronged on several fronts and that some ofthe agreements were weighted in favour of TN. However, it is learnt that TN is interested in taking up for discussion only the Pandiyar-Punnapuzha and Pamapa-Vaigai systems immediately.

Justifying his demand for a comprehensive discussion, Durai Murugan told newsmen after the meeting that ``all issues would have to be taken up either today or tomorrow. Hence, why not now''.

According to indications, it would be very difficult for both States to dilute their stances. Hence, technical experts could be expected to further tighten their positions and collect more data in the coming days to fortify their arguments. But the joint decision on a further technical assessment of the dam is a green signal, which comes as a fresh initiative to solve the stalemate. Anyway, not much headway was expected at the ministerial talks.

In Kerala, the Mullapperiyar issue had resulted in a major political embarrassment to the LDF Government, with CPM politburo member V S Achuthanandan whipping up a campaign and holding theGovernment responsible for its lapses in protecting the State's interests. The urgency of the discussion and the Government's insistence on discussing Mullapperiyar, to the exclusion of other rivers, may be a political strategy to stave off further criticism from within.

Kerala technical experts have told the TN team that they do not accord much sanctity to the conclusions of Central Water Commission or other agencies like the Central Dam Safety Board. This has been seen as a strategy of the Kerala side to prevent a dispute arising out of Mullapperiyar from being referred to such agencies, investing on them the role of arbitrators.

TN experts were also told that the dam had outlived its life span and if at all a catastrophe occurred, Kerala would have to bear the brunt and not TN which was the beneficiary of the Mullapperiyar river system. The Kerala technical experts saved themselves from the embarrassment by agreeing to issue a joint statement along with TN officials.