Contending that the State government was consistent in its efforts to obtain Cauvery water from Karnataka through various channels, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Wednesday urged farmers to use the available water judiciously.
The Chief Minister was addressing concerns raised by DMK member Durai Chandrasekaran (Thiruvaiyaru) in the Assembly on Wednesday. During his speech, Mr. Chandrasekaran highlighted the hardships being faced by farmers in the Cauvery delta region and further urged the State government to be reasonable in releasing water through channels.
The Chief Minister elaborated on the efforts made by the government in managing the water crisis in the State and further observed that the present storage in Mettur was 21.70 TMC. “The Karnataka government was supposed to release 192 TMC to Tamil Nadu annually. However, it has released only 111 TMC. It is supposed to release the remaining 81 TMC by May 2018,” he said.
Besides dealing with Karnataka directly, the AIADMK government was also talking to it through the Centre and the Supreme Court to get Tamil Nadu’s due share of Cauvery water, Mr. Palaniswami said.
As for Mr. Chandrasekaran’s charge that there was a lack of planning in the release of water, the Chief Minister clarified that water was being released based on the availability and need in an area.
