CHENNAI: The Congress-led UPA government has, at the fag end of its term, appointed a new chairman for the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, a post that has been vacant since 2012 following the resignation of then chairman N P Singh on health grounds.
Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan, judge of the Supreme Court, will be the new chairman of the Tribunal, said a notification issued by Water Resources Secretary Alok Rawat on May 13.
The Clarificatory Petitions filed by all party States to the Cauvery water dispute against the final award of the Tribunal given in February 2007 could not be taken up for hearing as the post of chairman was vacant.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa time and again urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to appoint a new chairman for the Tribunal pointing out that the civil miscellaneous petition filed by the Tamil Nadu government before the Tribunal praying for the early disposal of the pending applications of the party States and the Central government was pending.
Jayalalithaa observed that under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act (ISRWDA) the Tribunal cannot function with two members and its proceedings can only be continued if a new chairman is appointed.
Last year, after many reminders from Jayalalithaa, the Central government notified the final award of the Tribunal on February 19.