The Cauvery Rights Retrieval Committee has exhorted the newly formed Tamilaga Vettri Kaazhagam government to ensure that Karnataka complies with the final award given by the Supreme Court in the Cauvery water dispute.

Committee coordinator P. Maniarasan told The Hindu in Thanjavur on May 21 that the Cauvery River Protection Committee in Karnataka, headed by the retired Supreme Court Judge V. Gopala Gowda, convened a meeting on May 9 this year and had passed a resolution urging the Karnataka government to file a review petition in the Supreme Court.

Claiming that the allocation of 177.25 tmcft of water to Tamil Nadu was on the higher side, the CRPC wanted their State government to file a review petition seeking reduction of the allocation to Tamil Nadu.

Stating that the failure on the part of the successive governments in Tamil Nadu to ensure the interests of the State were protected in the Cauvery water sharing issue had emboldened the CRPC to make such a demand, Mr. Maniarasan called upon the TVK government in Tamil Nadu to take a firm stand on the issue and protect the interest of the State without any compromise.

While urging the State government to take steps on priority to get the Tamil Nadu’s due share in the Cauvery for this water year before May 30, as directed by the Cauvery Water Management Authority in its recent meeting, he urged Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay to constitute an expert committee to visit Karnataka to inspect the dams across the Cauvery river in Karnataka and the site selected by that State government for the construction of a new dam at Mekedatu.

Industrial park

The CRRC has urged the new government to withdraw the previous DMK government’s proposals of setting up industrial estates through the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) at Sengipatti in Thanjavur district and at Korkai in Tiruvarur district.

Formation of industrial parks for encouraging industrial activities other than agriculture- related project would nullify the objective with which the Tamil Nadu Protected Agricultural Zone Development Act was enacted in 2020, he added.