Hundreds of people were shifted to relief camps from low-lying areas of Kerala as flood water entered their houses with monsoon rains gaining further strength in the state.
Addressing a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, Premachandran said the minister's reply to a question from two Kerala MPs in Parliament that the dam was owned and operated by Tamil Nadu was not "fully correct."
Moving the submission on the issue at the outset, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy it was unfortunate that Tamil Nadu had not taken into due account the anxieties and fears of Kerala arising out of the existing dam, even in the backdrop of frequent tremors in the area.
The Tamil Nadu government banned Dam 999, claiming that the film was about the contentious issue of Mullaperiyar dam and delivered a message in favour of Kerala.
The Empowered Committee on the controversial Mullaperiyar Dam issue on Wednesday submitted its report to the Supreme Court in a sealed cover which would be examined by a Constitution Bench.
The Kerala government on Friday informed the state high court that at least 450 families living near the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar Dam area would be evacuated to safer places soon.
Seeking to assert Tamil Nadu's rights over Mullaperiyar dam, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Sunday said a special assembly session would be convened on December 15 to pass a resolution that the state will not give up rights over it due to 'imaginary threats' on its safety and security.
The two-member technical panel comprising CD Thatte and DK Mehta had recently surveyed the dam site after Kerala expressed concerns over safety in the wake of recent tremors in the area
Three songs from the film have been singled out for the Original Song category.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Sunday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to advise Kerala not to build a new dam across Mullaperiyar and sought a financial package for the state.
Kerala politicians led by Chief Minister Ommen Chandy on Wednesday knocked the doors of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking his immediate intervention in persuading Tamil Nadu to settle the Mullaperiyar dam issue.
With the row over the Mullaperiyar dam escalating, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Friday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who directed him to meet Water Resources Minister Pawan Bansal for further discussions on the issue.
Tamil Nadu government on Thursday banned Dam 999 with immediate effect after the movie faced a storm of protests from various political parties which claim the controversial film is based on the Mullaperiyar dam, over which the state is locked in an escalating row with Kerala.
Karat told reporters that his party wanted an amicable settlement on the issue.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday discussed with his senior Cabinet colleagues the Mullaperiyar dam issue over which Tamil Nadu and Kerala have been at loggerheads.
Coming out against the report of the Supreme Court-appointed Empowered Committee on Mullaperiyar dam, over which Kerala and Tamil Nadu are at loggerheads, Communist Party of India-Marxist veteran V S Achuthanandan on Monday said it was "unilateral and in favour of Tamil Nadu".
Members from Kerala and Tamil Nadu clashed in the Rajya Sabha over the Mullaperiyar Dam controversy, seeking Centre's intervention in resolving the contentious issue.
The Kerala high court on Wednesday directed the state government to file a written statement within 48 hours on the disaster management steps being taken anticipating threat to the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam.
With the standoff between Kerala and Tamil Nadu on the Mullaperiyar dam issue escalating, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday.
Union Minister Vayalar Ravi on Sunday slammed his colleague and Home Minister P Chidambaram for his remarks on the Mullaperiyar Dam, calling them as "unfortunate" and said they only showed his "political immaturity".
As tension escalated on the inter-state border town of Kumily over the Mullaperiyar dam issue, protestors on the Tamil Nadu side on Sunday threw slippers at Finance Minister O Panneerselvam and gheraoed him.
Kerala on Friday told the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee on Mullaperiyar Dam issue that it was agreeable to formation of an independent committee for regulation of waters if a new dam is built, while Tamil Nadu rejected the move to build a new structure outright.
The committee headed by former Chief Justice of India A S Anand is expected to submit its report on the controversial issue by February, 2012.
Seeking arrest of those instigating people over Mullaperiyar dam issue in Kerala and Tamil Nadu under National Security Act, Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy on Monday asked Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to hold talks with the neighbour in the overall welfare of the two states.
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 on Thursday said the Prime Minister was the "most suitable authority" to hammer out a solution to vexed water disputes like Mullaperiyar dam row and wanted to appeal for his intervention but refrained from doing so after Tamil Nadu objected to it.
'There is no other way but approaching the Supreme Court and the state government should immediately take steps on this'.
Ratcheting up its pressure in the snowballing Mullaperiyar dam row with Tamil Nadu, the Kerala Assembly on Friday unanimously passed a resolution insisting on a new dam to replace the 116-year old reservoir.
As the row over the Mullaperiyar dam hotted up, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Wednesday sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention asking him to advise Kerala government not to whip up fear among its people for political mileage and said the dam is "safe and as good as new".
The two states are sharply divided over the height of the dam in Idukki district of Kerala.
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Vaiko on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to drop the proposed Dam Safety Bill saying it could affect Tamil Nadu with the state locked in a dispute with Kerala over Mullaiperiyar Dam.
The Mullaperiyar Dam issue generated heat in Parliament on Wednesday with members from Tamil Nadu and Kerala clashing in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Seeking urgent initiative by the Centre on the vexed Mullaperiyar dam issue, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday and stress on the importance of holding early talks between the state and Tamil Nadu to defuse the crisis.Chandy will leave for New Delhi on Thursday afternoon to meet the prime minister. A special meeting of the state cabinet late on Wednesday night decided to convene an urgent one-day sitting of the assembly.
The police on Tuesday lathicharged hundreds of people at the state border town of Gudalur when they forcibly tried to enter Kerala, demanding adequate protection to the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar Dam, over which both Tamil Nadu and Kerala are locked in a row. According to the police, the crowd pelted stones at them and tried to force their way past a security cordon and go across to Kerala, prompting them to use batons.
Despite Tamil Nadu's objections, a Supreme Court-appointed Empowered Committee on Mullaperiyar Dam issue on Monday asked the state and Kerala to file their response by Friday on the ownership mechanism of a new dam, if built in place of the existing structure.
Karunanidhi submitted to Singh, who is on a two-day visit to the state, a memorandum, accusing Kerala of having created a situation where "people of Tamil Nadu and Kerala have been instigated to fight against each other like people of two different countries."
Prohibitory orders are in force due to tense situation in the wake of the row between Tamil Nadu and Kerala on the 116-year-old dam, which has escalated in recent days. Kerala wants demolition of the dam citing safety concerns while Tamil Nadu is opposed to it.
Stepping in to defuse the crisis, the Centre on Monday invited senior officials from Tamil Nadu and Kerala for discussions on the Mullaperiyar Dam issue even as the Supreme Court-appointed empowered panel decided to send a two-member team to the site for an on-the-spot assessment.
'We requested controlled release of water without waiting for the water level in the reservoir to reach its full level.'
Seeking to calm passions over Mullaperiyar Dam issue, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday wrote to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa saying nothing should be said or done to create "undue alarm" and hoped the issue would be sorted out amicably through dialogue.
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