Thiruvananthapuram, Thursday, November 13, 2008: The Kerala government on Wednesday said it was ready to provide water from Neyyar dam to Tamil Nadu and it had already sent a draft copy of agreement for the water supply to that State for approval.

State Water Resources and Irrigation Minister N K Premachandran told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram that the draft agreement sent to Tamil Nadu was based on a resolution passed in the State Assembly, which laid down the conditions for supply of water.

Premachandran was reacting to the Tamil Nadu government charge that Kerala has not responded to its request for the supply of water from Neyyar dam.

The agreement states that the water would be supplied for a price, which was only a token amount, Premachandran said. Tamil Nadu has objected to the word ‘price’ in the agreement, he said. The Tamil Nadu government has also wanted the Neyyar river to be treated as a inter-State river, the minister said.

The agreement’s conditions were based on provisions of Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation Act 2006, he added.