Tamil Nadu keen to finish river linking

Mr K.V. Rajan, special secretary to the government, public works department, stated this in his affidavit filed in response to the public interest litigation from former DMK MLA M. Appavu, which sought a direction to the state government to implement the third and fourth phases of the project within a reasonable time.

After perusing the affidavit, a division bench, comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M. Sathyanarayanan, ordered impleadment of the Union ministry of environment and forest and the ministry of irrigation and water resources as parties and directed them to file affidavits in the context of the stand taken by the state government indicating the time period for clearance and as to whether all steps as required had been taken by the state government or not, prior to necessary approvals. The bench posted to December 18 further hearing of the case.

In his affidavit, Rajan submitted that the delay was due to non-sanctioning of funds by the Union government in 2011-12 and 2012-13. Earnest steps were being made to complete the entire process of getting 90 per cent grant under the accelerated irrigation benefits programme from Government of India in the financial year 2014-15.

After getting all clearances from the government of India, viz., environmental clearance, fund sanction, and after the completion of the land acquisition process, the government was committed to complete the project in full shape, he added.