VELLORE: MDMK leader Vaiko urged Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to hold direct talks with her Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandrababu Naidu to sort out the Palar issue at the earliest. He made this plea while speaking to reporters at Pullur village on Saturday, where he went to inspect the check dam which has raised the political storm.
He said the CM should also lead an all-party delegation to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain how the check dams built by Andhra Pradesh would affect the downstream Tamil Nadu. “Tamil Nadu has the responsibility to enforce the agreement, entered into by the erstwhile Mysore and Madras states in 1892, which would prevent Andhra from depriving the riparian rights of the State,” he said. Recalling the legal battle between the two states on the issue, he said that responding to a writ filed by the AIADMK government in 2006 against the new check dam proposal at Ganesapuram in Andhra, the Supreme Court in 2009 had directed both states to sort out the issue with the help of the Central Water Commission. However, the then ruling DMK had failed to do so.
Meanwhile, the PMK youth wing leader Anbumani Ramadoss has appealed to the chief minister Jayalalithaa to constitute an all-party delegation to meet the Prime minister Modi and the Andhra Pradesh Chief minister Chandrababu Naidu to sort out the Palar issue. He said this while addressing a rally by his party men which was held here on Saturday in front of the collectorate.