Chennai, Feb 25 (BPNS)

Tamil Nadu Public Works Department (PWD) officials have walked out of a Supreme court-appointed sub-committee meeting expressing non-cooperation of Kerala forest officials. The meeting was held at Kumali in Kerala on Friday, sources in the Tamil Nadu PWD department told BPNS.

The sub-committee comprises an official from the Central Water Commission in the rank of Executive engineer and officials from Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The subcommittee visited the Mullaperiyar dam, Baby dam, shutters, seepage level, and the gallery and held a meeting at Kumali.

Tamil Nadu officials, according to sources, in the meeting said that they were not getting cooperation from the Kerala forest and PWD officials and had refused transportation of construction materials to the dam site. They also said that the Tamil Nadu side had received the necessary approval from the authorities concerned to cut and remove trees and lay roads in the area.

The officials from the Tamil Nadu side informed the meeting that the Kerala side was delaying the cutting of trees and laying of roads under one pretext or the other. The officials from Tamil Nadu later walked out of the meeting, sources privy to the meeting told BPNS