Duraimurugan calls Cauvery ‘life’ issue

CHENNAI: Cauvery river water sharing is not some ordinary matter but a ‘life’ issue and Tamil Nadu will not allow the construction of a dam across the inter-state river at Mekedatu by Karnataka, Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan said here on Thursday.

He was speaking to reporters early on Thursday upon his arrival from New Delhi after meeting Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Shekhawat over the Cauvery issue. TN has flagged the lower realisation from the inter-state river with the Centre.

The Tamil Nadu Water Resources Minister pointed out at his state receiving lesser quantum of water from the Cauvery river as of July 3 and said if the situation continues the short-term ‘kuruvai crops’ in the Delta districts may be affected.

To protect the crops in the Cauvery Delta districts in the state, Karnataka has to release water from the river and for this purpose, the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) “has to hold talks with Karnataka or order it to do so,” he said, adding this request was conveyed to Union Minister Shekhawat.

Duraimurugan said the Union Minister asked officials to take steps to immediately convene the CWMA.

“This (Cauvery) is not an ordinary issue, it is a life issue and I have clearly told this to the (Union) Minister,” he said.

Further, the Karnataka government was also duty-bound to adhere to the Supreme Court verdict on water-sharing.

To a question on Karnataka’s proposal for constructing a balancing reservoir across Cauvery at Mekedatu, he said, “even if they hold talks, or write to us, Tamil Nadu will never give consent for the construction of the dam.”

On BJP state chief K Annamalai’s statement that his party will stage “Go back Stalin,” protest against the Chief Minister if he attends the opposition parties’ meet at Bengaluru later this month in the backdrop of the ongoing Cauvery dispute, Duraimurugan, said, “that is their wish.”