Union Shipping Minister G K Vasan on Saturday said the Centre would shortly notify in the government gazette the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal. He expressed hope that notification would help resolve water disputes between states.
Vasan also joined issue with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s claim that the UPA government was meting out step-motherly treatment to the state. Saying he could furnish statistics of Central fund allocations for infrastructure creation and welfare schemes in TN, Vasan insisted that the Centre was treating all states on an equal footing.
When asked about the directive of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests to the State Government to reapply for the environmental clearance for the second stage of the North Chennai Thermal Power Station, he said the government was bound to follow the rules, and that the directive was only a procedural matter.
Vasan also reiterated the party’s commitment to press Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to allot all the power generated by the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) to Tamil Nadu.