Salem: With the Cauvery case coming up before the Supreme Court on Monday, the current situation does not warrant any discussion with anyone over the issue of sharing of Cauvery river water, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami has said.
“The current situation does not call for any discussion with anyone, as the state government is waiting for the final verdict of the Supreme Court,” Mr Palaniswami said. When asked if he would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi or his counterpart in Karnataka, where the Assembly polls have concluded, Mr Palaniswami stressed, “the situation does not call for a meeting with anyone at this stage.”
“We have crossed that stage. We have come to a situation where we are awaiting the final verdict from the Supreme Court (on the constitution of Cauvery Management Board),” he said told reporters and added that “we have been engaged in a legal battle for 32 years (with Karnataka).”
Contending that a water-starved State like Tamil Nadu required special schemes to meet the requirements for agriculture and drinking purpose, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami has urged the Centre to expedite the Godavari - Cauvery rivers linkage project.
“Tamil Nadu will get 125 tmcft water through this scheme,” he said while speaking at the inaugural of the flyover built at a cost of Rs 82 crore at AVR round tana in Salem corporation limits on Sunday. He had already urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Water Resources and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari to expedite the river linking project and the Centre has planned to take up the Godavari-Cauvery linking project in the first phase.
“The need for water today has become very crucial. Most of the rivers - Cauvery, Mullaiperiyar, Palar, originate in Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, and reach Tamil Nadu. So, in order to ensure a permanent solution, I had requested the Centre to link Godavari with Cauvery by diverting the excess water from the Godavari river,” Mr Palaniswami said.
In fact, during his recent Chennai visit, Mr. Gadkari had assured to take up Godavari-Cauvery river linking project to provide 125 tmcft water to Tamil Nadu, he added.
