TN walking out from JWRB meeting 'unfortuate': Premachandran

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 15 (UNI) Kerala Water Resources Minister N K Premachandran today termed 'unfortunate,' the walkout by Tamil Nadu members from the Joint Water Regulation Board (JWRB) meeting.

Talking to reporters here today, he said though 11 issues had been included in the JWRB meeting of the Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP) between Kerala and Tamil Nadu, only three could be taken up due to the walk out yesterday.

Alleging that Tamil Nadu members were not even ready to hear the state's arguments on water sharing, Mr Premachandran said under the PAP agreement, the Chitturpuzha should get 7.25 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) of water a year at Manacadavu and another additional 0.695 tmcft due to good rain.

Though Kerala had sought for clearing the backlog of 5.6 tmcft of water at the Manacadavu weir for Chitturpuzha, the Tamil Nadu members refused to concede the demand and walked out protesting the state's attitude, he added.

The meeting failed to reach an accord on water supply pattern, he added.

UNI