Pennaiyar: Jaya urges PM to stop Karna from work on check dams

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today sought the Centre's intervention to immediately stop Karnataka from carrying out work on any check dams or diversion structures across Pennaiyar river.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, she said reports had suggested that the Karnataka government has constructed a diversion structure at Mugalur in Karnataka limits for diversion of water through a canal to feed Lakkur tank for irrigation.

"This act of Karnataka will affect the (water) flow in the river considerably and will severely affect the irrigation in Tamil Nadu depending upon the waters of the inter-state Pennaiyar river," she said.

Jayalalithaa urged the Prime Minister to advise the Karnataka government to stop any construction activity across the Pennaiyar immediately and not to venture upon any schemes in the river without the prior consent of Tamil Nadu.