Madras state. Essentially, the dispute over the status of the river comes down to the definition of an inter-state river, with Kerala supporting the definition to be according to the course of the river, while Tamil Nadu favouring the definition to be according to the catchment area of the river. The Supreme Court of India, in its verdict on 7 May 2014, stated that although the Periyar rises in and traverses only in the territory of Kerala before entering into Arabian sea, no part of the land in Tamil Nadu abuts river Periyar and that Tamil Nadu is not a riparian state of the Periyar river, the fact that a small part of the Periyar river basin lies in Tamil Nadu is enough to make the river interstate in nature. See also 2018 Kerala floods Notes References External links Rivers of Kerala Bodies of water of the Arabian Sea Rivers of the Western Ghats Rivers of India