Cauvery basin states to discuss SC verdict implementation on March 9

CHENNAI:Just as the entire Tamil Nadu is agitated over the delay in the formation of the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) by way of honouring the February 16 verdict of Supreme Court, the Union Water Resources Ministry has convened a meeting of three Cauvery basin States — Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala — and the Union Territory of Puducherry for holding discussions on how to implement the SC verdict.

Chief secretary Girija Vaidyanathan and Public Works Department secretary S K Prabhakar will take part in the meeting to be held at the office of the Union Water Resources Ministry at 12 pm on March 9. The meeting is being held three weeks after the  Supreme Court verdict, which said the CMB should be formed within six weeks and that the time-limit would not be extended further.

Informing this to mediapersons, Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar reiterated that the State government would do everything possible to protect the rights of Tamil Nadu. He said the AIADMK MPs vociferously raised the Cauvery issue in the Upper House of Parliament earlier in the day,Asked whether convening a meeting by the ministry was tantamount to delaying the CMB formation, the minister said, “It is a continuous process to implement the SC order. We are hopeful that the CMB will be formed within the six-week period stipulated by the apex court.”

Three days ago, Leader of Opposition M K Stalin said Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had conveyed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi declined to meet the all-party delegation from Tamil Nadu on the Cauvery issue. Stoutly denying this, Jayakumar later said the Prime Minister’s Office did not deny an audience, but only asked the delegation to meet the Union Water Resources Minister first and then come to the Prime Minister.

During the discussions with Stalin on March 3, Palaniswami also said, “Let us wait for the message from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Monday. If nothing comes, we will convene the State Assembly to discuss the future course of action.”  

The Tamil Nadu government had convened an all-party meeting on February 22 and adopted a resolution to meet the PM seeking his intervention to expedite the formation of the CMB.  Two days later, when Modi took part in the 70th birth anniversary of the late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on February 24, Palaniswami made a open request to Modi to form the CMB immediately. However, Modi chose not to respond to the request.

A day after, the State government wrote a letter to the PMO on February 25 seeking an audience with the Prime Minister. Sources said on February 27 that the PMO had directed the Tamil Nadu government to approach the Union Minister first in this regard.

Last week, Union Minister for Water Resources Nitin Gadkari said he would not give a guarantee that the CMB would be formed within the six-week time-frame, incurring the wrath of political parties in Tamil Nadu.  However, on February 4, Union Minister of State for Water Resources Arjun Ram Meghwal said the process of the CMB formation had already begun and that it would be completed within six weeks.
Meanwhile, due to lack of water for irrigation, standing crops in around four lakh acres in the Cauvery Delta districts have almost withered.