Anbumani bats for Cauvery-Godavari river link

CHENNAI: PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Friday urged the Union government to fast track the long pending Cauvery-Godavari river-linking project and convene a conference of southern Chief Ministers under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to build consensus and initiate the project.

PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Friday welcomed the growing consensus among southern states on resolving inter state river water disputes and said the favourable atmosphere should be utilised to expedite the Cauvery-Godavari river-linking project.

In a statement, Anbumani referred to the consultative meeting held in Karnataka in the presence of Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil and the leaders of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. He said Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's support for implementing the Cauvery-Godavari link as a central government project was a significant development that could help remove hurdles facing the scheme.

Stating that the project was technically feasible, Anbumani said it envisages transferring surplus water through a chain of river links from the Mahanadi and Godavari basins to the Cauvery.

According to him, the project would ultimately provide 302.42 TMC of water annually to the Cauvery basin and benefit Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

The PMK leader noted that the draft project report was prepared in March 2019 and could be implemented at an estimated cost of Rs 86,962 crore once approvals from the concerned states are secured. He alleged that the project remained stalled due to Telangana's objections over the utilisation of surplus Godavari waters.

Anbumani also called for the creation of a dedicated Special Task Force to coordinate the project, arguing that the National Water Development Agency was burdened with multiple responsibilities. He urged the Centre to allocate funds and commence the river linking works at the earliest.