Kerala wants to settle all water disputes with Tamil Nadu through talks. However, there will be no compromise on the safety of the Mullaiperiyar Dam, said Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who took part in the inauguration of Navarathiri procession from Padmanabhapuram Palace near Thuckalay in the district on Wednesday.
Speaking on the sidelines of the function, Oommen Chandy said the Kerala had initiated steps to get World Heritage Status from UNESCO for the Padmanabhapuram Palace and the Edakkal Caves, Kerala.
To a question on the Neyyar left bank canal issue, Chandy said, “We want to settle all the water disputes with Tamil Nadu through talks. We don’t have any objection in giving water to TN from Mullaiperiyar. But the safety of the dam is our concern and we will not compromise on that.”
Chandy reiterated that his State would not reduce the amount of water being given to Tamil Nadu from Mullaiperiyar.
Earlier, at a function held at the ‘Uparigai Maligai’ in Padmanabhapuram Palace in the presence of Kerala State Minister for Culture K C Joseph, Archaeology Department Director G Prem Kumar took the State sword of the erstwhile Travancore kings kept for worship at the palace, and handed it over to the Kerala State Minister for Devaswom V S Sivakumar. Sivakumar, in turn, handed over the sword to R Gnana sekar, the Kanyakumari District Joint Commissioner and Executive Officer of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department.
The EO handed over the sword to a HR&CE employee, who will carry the sword along with the idols during the procession.
After the rituals, the Navarathiri procession began with the Devarakattu Saraswathi idol from the palace being carried on a decorated elephant and the Murugan idol from Kumaracoil temple and Munnuthitha Nangai Amman idol from Suchinduram on a palanquin.
The procession will halt at Kuzhithurai on Wednesday and will enter Kerala through Kaliyakkavilai on Thursday. After halting at Neyyatinkara, it will reach Karamana in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.
Kanyakumari DRO S Palanisamy, Superintendent of Police N Manivannan, Padmanabhapuram RDO Arun Sathya, State BJP president Pon Radhakrishnan, Kerala MLAs R Selvaraj, A T George and other senior officials from various departments from Kerala and Tamil Nadu participated in the procession.