Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 5 (IANS): As water level in Kerala's dams is rising due to massive rains in the state, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday shot off a letter to his Tamil Nadu counterpart M.K. Stalin seeking regulation of water in Mullaperiyar dam.

"I would like to bring to your kind attention to the precarious situation at Mullaperiyar dam catchment area and seek your urgent intervention to regulate the water discharge, so as to steadily bring down the water level to a safe point in the light of the IMD predictions.

"I request you to kindly give the necessary directions to the authorities to ensure that the outflow/discharge from the dam is more than the inflow, taking into account the heavy rainfall in the area," Chief Minister Vijayan wrote in the letter.

Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been at loggerheads over the dam, built under an 1886 accord between the then Maharaja of Travancore and the erstwhile British regime.

Though the dam is located in Kerala, it is owned, maintained and operated by Tamil Nadu and the former has for long been demanding de-commissioning of the dam that has developed leaks.

While the Kerala government said that the dam is posing a serious threat to lives and property in five districts of the state taking into account its age, Tamil Nadu wants the water level of the dam to be increased.