TN should wait out 6-week deadline on Cauvery Board, says Deputy CM

Tamil Nadu should be patient during the six-week period the Supreme Court has set the Centre for the formation of the management board and regulation committee for the Cauvery river water sharing, said the Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam in the Assembly on Monday.

According to an official release, Panneerselvam pointed out that the Supreme Court has granted the Centre six weeks for the formation of the Cauvery Water Management Board and committee to oversee the sharing of the river water between the disputing States.

March 29 deadline

The deadline ends on March 29 and Tamil Nadu has to wait for any further action, if needed, he said.

Last month, the Supreme Court had delivered its verdict on the sharing of the Cauvery waters between Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry. It directed the Centre to create a management board and regulation committee to oversee the water allocation in line with the order the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.

Panneerselvam pointed out that the AIADMK Members of Parliament have taken up the issue strongly in the Lok Sabha and the proceedings have been stalled for over a week as they urged the Centre act on the Supreme Court order. This is an unprecedented situation as Tamil Nadu had never before stalled the proceedings of the Parliament for so long over a public issue.

Special session

The State government has also convened a special session on the issue last week, he said, referring to the House adopting a resolution urging the Centre to set up the management board and regulation committee.

Responding to Opposition Leader MK Stalin stating that the Andhra Pradesh government has taken a good decision on pushing the Centre to give it special status for additional funding, Panneerselvam said Stalin was trying to create an impression that Tamil Nadu was not taking adequate measures on the Cauvery issue.

Andhra Pradesh exiting the NDA after four-and-a-half years of alliance cannot be compared with the Cauvery water dispute. The two should not be linked. Tamil Nadu has consistently worked towards asserting its share of the river water, he said.