Rejecting Kerala's stand that Mullaperiyar Dam was not safe, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today accused the neighbouring state of seeking to take political mileage by creating "unnecessary panic" among the people.

In a rejoinder to his Kerala counterpart V S Achuthanandan's criticism of his demand for deployment of Central Industrial Security Force personnel to guard the century-old structure, Karunanidhi said in a statement here the dam had been strengthened so as to withstand natural calamities like earthquakes.

"The truth is that they are trying to take political mileage by creating unnecessary panic among the people," he said, referring to Achuthanandan's remarks yesterday that seismic study had shown the dam was not safe in the event of an earthquake or flood.

Countering Achuthanandan's charge that Tamil Nadu backtracked from constructing a new dam after agreeing to it, Karunanidhi said the idea was mooted by then Central Water Commission Chairman K C Thomas at a meeting held in Thiruvananthapuram on November 25, 1979.

Though Thomas had announced there was no danger to the dam, he had put some conditions, including measures to strengthen the dam on immediate, short-term and long-term basis. The new dam proposal was part of the long-term plan, Karunanidhi said.

Based on the suggestion, engineers of the two states undertook a survey in December, 1979 to explore feasibility of building a new dam. But in March, 1986 the CWC recorded its decision to drop the move to build a new dam in view of the non-availability of suitable location and potential damage to ecology, he claimed.