Gazette order if Karna does not appeal within grace time:Soz

Chennai, Feb 6 (UNI) The Union Government would make the gazette notification of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal's final verdict, delivered yesterday, if Karnataka did not file an appeal against it within the grace period of 90 days, Union Minister for Water Resources Prof Saifuddin Soz said today.

Talking to mediapersons at the airport here, Mr Soz said after the notification, the Centre would see to the implementation of the verdict in a phased manner within a year. The verdict would be implemented as per guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court.

Asked what the Centre would do if Karnataka refused to implement the order, he queried how Karnataka could refuse.

The Minister said everyone would have noticed that the order clearly mentioned the monthly quota of water for each riparian state by the tribunal and this should be appreciated.

To a question, he said he did not know anything about the ongoing Palar river controversy, over the Andhra Pradesh Government's move to build a check dam across the River Palar in Kuppam District. As the issue was between Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the two should sit together and sort out the issue, he added.

UNI