CHENNAI: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday said that it was "shocking" to know of reports that the ruling DMK government has proposed to let Water Resources Department officials attend the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) meeting virtually, instead of sending them to the in-person meeting, which is held in Delhi regularly.
The Opposition leader sought immediate withdrawal of the proposal saying that an online CWMA meeting would not secure the riparian rights of Tamil Nadu.
In a statement, the former chief minister pointed out that usually, a CWMA meeting comprising representatives of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, and Karnataka would ensure water supply of 177.25 TMC from the river to Tamil Nadu. "Accordingly, the representatives of these states would register their opinions in the meeting", he said.
He added that however, "there are reports that the State Water Resources Secretary has ordered that representatives of Tamil Nadu will attend the meeting only virtually".
Alleging that there were also reports that the representatives from Tamil Nadu were not arguing properly in order to secure the rights of the state in the Cauvery water sharing issue with Karnataka in the previous meetings, Palaniswami said that the State Water Resources Minister himself admitted that during the last CWMA meet, the state representatives were not informed that the Mekedatu dam issue had been clarified with the Centre.
Stating that the DMK government's decision to make the authorities concerned attend the CWMA meet virtually was "wrong", the Opposition leader of the House said that it should ensure to withdraw the proposal and instead send the state representatives to the meeting in Delhi to secure the rights of Tamil Nadu.