TN all-party MP delegation to meet Union Jal Shakti Minister on Cauvery issue

An all-party delegation of Members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu led by its water resources minister, S. Duraimurugan will meet Union Jal Shakti Minister

Chennai: An all-party delegation of Members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu led by its water resources minister, S. Duraimurugan will meet Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekawat in New Delhi on the Cauvery issue.

While the date of the meeting is not finalised yet, sources in the Tamil Nadu water works department told IANS that it will be soon held. The meeting is due to the Karnataka side firmly announcing that it will not release any more Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

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The delegation is to apprise the Union minister on the necessity of Cauvery water and to inform him of the release for saving Kuruvai crops in Delta districts of Tamil Nadu.

The Supreme Court is to hear the dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu on Cauvery waters on September 21.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has in a statement said that Karnataka has made baseless allegations that the demand of Tamil Nadu for more Cauvery water was unfair.

The Chief Minister also said that Karnataka has also charged that Tamil Nadu has increased its Ayacut areas which was a baseless allegation. Stalin said that as per the final verdict of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and Supreme Court verdict, riparian states in the Cauvery basin should share the available water on a pro-rata basis in a distress year.

He said that according to this verdict, Karnataka should have released 103.5 tmcft by September 14 but the state released only 38.4 tmcft. This has led to a shortage of 65.1 tmcft.

The Cauvery Water Management Authority has convened an urgent meeting on Monday, September 18 as Karnataka had defied the order of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) to release 5000 cusecs of water by September 13.

Meanwhile in a related development PMK state president Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss has called for the Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin to meet Karnataka Chief Minister Siddharamiah and solve the dispute between the two states on Cauvery waters.