Appoint official in Cauvery cell without delay: EPS, Dhinakaran to govt

CHENNAI: AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami and AMMK founder TTV Dhinakaran have criticised the TVK government for delaying the appointment of a Vice Chairman for the Cauvery Technical Cell.

In a statement, Palaniswami alleged that the delay had affected Tamil Nadu to secure its rightful share of Cauvery water and criticised the present TVK government for being incapable of handling the inter-state water dispute and for failing to put pressure on the Karnataka government over the Mekedatu dam project.

He pointed out that the vice-chairman of the Cauvery Technical Cell resigned in June, but the government accepted his resignation only after a four-month delay.

He said the Cauvery Water Management Authority and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee have been directing Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu since June, however, the Tamil Nadu government's failure to keep the technical cell fully functional had weakened the efforts to secure water share.

In a separate statement, Dhinakaran said the vice-vhairman's post was crucial to safeguarding Tamil Nadu's rightful share of water in inter-state river disputes involving the Cauvery, Mullai Periyar, Krishna and Parambikulam-Aliyar rivers.

The official was responsible for monitoring water inflows into Tamil Nadu, analysing technical data and representing the state at the CWMA meetings, he noted and accused the TVK government of failing to protect the interests of farmers.

Both the leaders urged the government to fill the vacant post and make the Cauvery Technical Cell functional to protect Tamil Nadu's water rights.