CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami today urged the Centre to direct the Water Resources Ministry to instruct the Cauvery Water Management Authority to convene its meeting on sharing of Cauvery water with Karnataka.
Palaniswami, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, quoting reports, said the Karnataka government had requested the Centre to 'defer' the operation of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee.
The Chief Minister of Karnataka is also reported to have stated that it was also advisable to place the "scheme" before the two Houses of Parliament and raised other issues for consideration, he said.
"It is evident that Karnataka has scant regard for the orders of Supreme Court and seeks to re-open the adjudicated dispute which attained finality by the judgement of the apex court," he said.
Palaniswami said the concerns raised by Karnataka were already settled by the apex court in its order on February 16 and May 18, 2018 respectively.
The request by his counterpart to "defer" the operation of CWMA was another 'ploy' not to comply with the orders of the apex court, he said.
"It is also an attempt to re-open the already adjudicated dispute which is not permissible," Palaniswami said.
Palaniswami alleged that Karnataka during the last six years failed to ensure timely release of Cauvery water following which Tamil Nadu suffered 'severely'.
Tamil Nadu farmers have a legitimate expectation that the CWMA primarily mandated to implement the final order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and the judgment of Supreme Court on February 16 "will ensure regulated release of water by Karnataka at Billingundulu," he said.
Any further delay in CWMA becoming fully operational would be a violation of the apex court order, he said, adding, it would seriously prejudice the interests of the farmers of Tamil Nadu.
Palaniswami requested Modi to direct the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation to issue instructions to CWMA to immediately convene its meeting so that Tamil Nadu could get its due share of water as per the orders in force.
A defiant Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had said yesterday he was prepared to nominate the state's representatives on the CWMA but not before the concerns raised by him were addressed, a day after he pitched for parliamentary approval to set up the Authority.
Political parties in Tamil Nadu reacted sharply to Kumaraswamy's remarks on the issue, accusing him of trying to "sow seeds for a new problem and confusion" and attempting to score "a few political brownie points.