Cauvery row: Will ensure our rights legally, says TN minister

The state minister for water resources, who led an all-party delegation from Tamil Nadu to meet Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in New Delhi on the issue, described such meetings as a "formality"

Chennai: Senior Tamil Nadu Minister Duraimurugan on Wednesday said that neighbouring Karnataka has never agreed to any proposals made by his state in the Cauvery water-sharing dispute and that whatever rights it gained has come because it approached the Supreme Court over the matter.

With the two states once again locked in a dispute in the wake of Karnataka’s claim that it has inadequate storage to share water, Tamil Nadu has sought that the pro-rata-basis distress sharing formula be implemented, he told reporters here.

---

The state minister for water resources, who led an all-party delegation from Tamil Nadu to meet Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in New Delhi on the issue, described such meetings as a “formality”.

“It is a formality but we will get justice only from the Supreme Court,” he told reporters here upon his return from the national capital.

The problem is “non-releasing of water as per the SC order” by Karnataka as TN requests the apex court as well as the central government to implement the distress sharing formula. The SC has said water can be shared on pro-rata basis during such times, he said.

“Now we want pro-rata based water (sharing),” he added.

He also accused Karnataka of “never agreeing” to Tamil Nadu’s proposals, such as setting up of a tribunal and said that it was set up after much struggle.

“I have been (a part of) the long history of Cauvery from the beginning. Karnataka has never agreed to whatever we have asked for. The rights we have got have been ensured (by taking up the issues) in the supreme court. Will ensure (TN’s rights) in the coming days also like that,” he said.