CHENNAI/ SALEM: Amidst heightened anxiety on whether or not the Centre will constitute the Cauvery Management Board and render justice to Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami will chair a meeting of his ministers on Thursday at the secretariat to decide on the next course of action on the Cauvery issue. The CM, nevertheless, exuded confidence that the Centre will implement the Supreme Court order on forming the CMB.
With the Supreme Court mandated six-week deadline drawing to a close on Thursday, the ruling AIADMK, which has pitched high hopes on the Narendra Modi government, will explore the options before it in obtaining the Cauvery water at an emergency meeting of all ministers tomorrow.
The apex court on February 16 had pronounced its verdict on the dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. After it was announced, the lower riparian state has been urging the Centre to set up CMB and CWRC to ensure it receives its due share of water. Tamil Nadu’s stand is that the Centre must constitute the panels by March 29.
On Wednesday morning Mr Palaniswami told reporters in Salem that the Tamil Nadu government has been urging the Centre to constitute the Cauvery Management Board and meet the aspirations of the people and the farmers of the Cauvery delta region, as well.
The CM said he expected the Centre to come out with a “good” decision on setting up the CMB and the Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee (CWRC). “We will wait till the deadline ends,” he said.
“The Centre should realise the aspirations of the people of Tamil Nadu and the delta farmers. We can only react after the Supreme Court deadline ends,” he told the reporters.
Meanwhile, fisheries minister D. Jayakumar too spoke in similar vein saying there’s still one day left for the deadline to end. “We are exerting maximum pressure on the Centre to constitute the board and committee. We hope the Central government will act accordingly,” he said.
However, ruling AIADMK’s MP in the Rajya Sabha and former TN Advocate General A. Navaneethakrishnan claimed that there was remote possibility for the Centre to constitute the board in a day’s time.
