CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Centre to reject the stand of the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Union Environment Ministry allowing Kerala to conduct Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study for a new dam at Attappady across Siruvani river.
The resolution also said the Centre should not give clearance to the projects in the Cauvery Basin of Kerala and Karnataka till the Cauvery Management Board and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee came into being and judicial references were finally settled. While Kerala is planning to build a dam across the river Siruvani, Karnataka is planning a new dam at Mekedatu across Cauvery river. Opposition members from the DMK, Congress and IUML supported the resolution. The House also conveyed its displeasure over ‘unwarranted haste’ of the EAC in considering Kerala’s dam proposal for EIA study. The subject was not part of the regular agenda for the meeting that took place on August 11-12 and no intimation was given to Tamil Nadu.
The State Assembly on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Centre not give clearance to the projects in the Cauvery Basin of Kerala and Karnataka till the Cauvery Management Board and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee came into being and judicial references were finally settled.
Deputy leader of DMK Durai Murugan, Congress floor leader KR Ramasamy and Abdul Mohammed Abubacker (IUML) urged the State government to convene an all-party meet to discuss the recent developments on the inter-State water disputes.
They said either the Chief Minister or PWD Minister should lead an all-party team to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue.
“In the minutes, it has been recorded that the Ministry of Environment and Forests has written to the Government of Tamil Nadu several times, which is factually incorrect. The House feels that the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) has taken the decision against Tamil Nadu in haste,” the resolution said.
Pointing out the wrong use recorded in the minutes of the EAC meeting, it quoted from the minutes: “The EAC took note of no responses from the Tamil Nadu State instead of several letters sent by the Government of Kerala and MoEF and CC to the Government of Tamil Nadu.”
The use of the phrase “instead of” in the records and not “in spite of” clearly shows the ‘haste’ with which the EAC had acted on this issue, the resolution added.
Moving the resolution, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa traced the origin of the issue and the steps taken by her government to stop the Kerala government in going ahead with its plans to build a dam across the river Siruvani and the letters written in this regard to Kerala and the Centre.
The resolution pointed out that the governments of Kerala and Karnataka had appealed in the Supreme Court against the Final Order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and the Tamil Nadu government had also moved the apex court on certain aspects of the final order.