CM cites low storage in Mettur, discordant DMK walks out

Leader of the Opposition MK Stalin, who had been demanding that the water be released from the reservoir as per the schedule, condemned the government for its decision to miss the customary date while staging a walkout.

His ally Congress and the lone IUML legislator followed suit.

In a bid to counter the opposition, Palaniswami trotted out a long list of actual annual water release schedule during DMK’s regimes in comparison with the AIADMK regimes. “There is no record for the DMK regime to have released water as per the schedule while the Jayalalithaa’s regime in 2011, released water nearly a week ahead,” Palaniswami said.

“Had the level in Stanley Reservoir been 90 ft, we would have released water for Kuruvai cultivation to irrigate 3.15 lakh acres in Thanjavur,

Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Tiruchy, Cuddalore, Pudukkottai, Ariyalur and Karur. Water could not be released for the past six years due to poor storage due to various aspects, including vagaries of the monsoon,” he added.

Even while Palaniswami announced the package, he noted that the state was taking all measures to get Cauvery water from Karnataka and assured release of water from the reservoir once the storage improves.

“The Centre has notified the formation of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and the

Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC). We would also take consistent and swift action to get the state’s rightful share of water in consonance with the SC ’s verdict,” he said. The CM noted that Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry have nominated their members to the CWMA while observing they had learnt that Karnataka has not yet sent in their nominations.

“A battery of AIADMK MPs led by Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai had met Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari and handed over a letter I wrote seeking to make the CWMA operational with immediate effect,” the CM added.