1 Jul 2009, 2004 hrs IST

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala: The state government today decided to send a delegation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to apprise him of the danger posed to the Mullaperiyar dam on Kerala-Tamil Nadu border in wake of an expert committee report that it was in a "highly critical state".

A delegation led by Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan would meet the Prime Minister at a date to be decided later, to apprise him of the "concern and apprehension" of the state on the condition of the 112-year old dam, sources at the Water Resources Minister's office said.

A meeting attended by expert committee members, the CM and Water Resources Minister N K Premachandran decided to meet Singh in this regard, the sources said.

Kerala has maintained that a new dam had to be built as no amount of repair could save the existing 'lime and surki' structure.

Tamil Nadu, which shares water under an inter-state agreement, is opposed to construction of a new dam and favours repair work on the existing structure.

The two neighbouring states have been at loggerheads for long over the Mullaperiyar dam issue and while Kerala wants to maintain the water level at 136 feet considering the safety of the dam, Tamil Nadu insists on raising it to 142 feet.

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