File photo of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J Jayalalithaa
In a complete turnaround, the Tamil Nadu government has submitted a report to the Supreme Court today, saying there is no threat to the Mullaperiyar dam from Liberation Tigers of Tigers Eelam (LTTE) cadres.
Last week, citing a Intelligence Bureau (IB) report from September 2014, the state government had submitted an affidavit to the Court stating terrorists groups can attack the dam with explosives.
The intelligence inputs, the petition said, included the decimated LTTE -- a separatist militant group that fought for a separate Tamil state in Sri Lanka.
This had created a political furore in the state. Opposition parties like DMK, PMK and MDMK had criticised the government for trying to malign the image of the LTTE.
The amended affidavit submitted today says the state does not subscribe to the IB report on LTTE, but it continued to press for Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) security at the dam.
The Mullaperiyar dam is situated on the Periyar river in Thekkady district of Kerala, but it supplies water to the drought-prone areas of Tamil Nadu under a complex lease lasting 999 years.
Both states have been locked in a battle over the dam.
Kerala says the dam is old and endangers lives of millions who live downstream, Tamil Nadu is firmly against Kerala's push for the construction of a new dam because it fears it would be forced to accept a smaller supply of water.
The Kerala government is responsible for the security of the dam, but Tamil Nadu is pushing for central security forces to guard the dam.