Constituting Cauvery Board mandatory: Jayalalithaa writes 31-page letter to Narendra Modi

Chennai: A day after Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti contended that there was no proposal to constitute the Cauvery Management Board, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Friday asserted that it was mandatory for the Centre to establish such an authority to give effect to the Tribunal's final order.

Apparently, irked by the statements of Uma Bharti, Jayalalithaa, who has been mounting pressure on Narendra Modi government to set up the CMB, today fired another letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi pressing for the state's demand.

"... the Constitution of the Cauvery Management Board is not optional but an integral part of the final order itself," Jayalalithaa said, rebutting the statement of Uma Bharti, who had yesterday said the proposal for setting up the Board was never there and there was no direction from the Supreme Court.

Tamil Nadu has already moved the Supreme Court praying for a direction to the Centre to set up CMB. "I would like to point out here that unless the Cauvery Management Board is formed, the notification will be only "on a piece of paper" as stated by the Tribunal," she said.

She described the memorandum submitted by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to the Prime Minister on June 10 opposing the constitution of CMB "is full of misleading statements and distorted facts."