Alappuzha/Theni: Kerala on Thursday accused Tamil Nadu of "not responding positively" to its offer for talks on the raging Mullaperiyar row as shops and business establishments remained shut in response to a traders' strike in five districts of the neighbouring state.
Chief Minister Ommen Chandy said Kerala wanted to solve the row over the dam amicably through talks, but the response of Tamil Nadu had "not been positive".
He also took a dig at his Tamil Nadu counterpart Jayalalithaa saying she was opposing the Kudankulam Nuclear Power plant citing the safety concerns of local people but not applying the same yardstick for the Mullaperiyar dam.
Speaking at the mass contact programme in Alappuzha, Chandy said Kerala did not like to have any tension between the people of two neighbouring states on this issue.
Kerala has been insisting on a new dam to replace the 116-year old Mullaperiyar dam over safety concerns, a position which Tamil Nadu, under whose control the reservoir comes, refuses to accept.
Meanwhile, in the five southern districts of Tamil Nadu fed by Mullaperiyar dam waters for irrigation, shops and business establishments downed shutters in response to the bandh call given by traders' outfits and local chambers of commerce protesting Kerala's stand.
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