Amit Shah to chair 29th meeting of Southern Zonal Council in Tirupati today, 26-point on agenda- Details here

Tirupati, Nov 14: The 29th meeting of the Southern Zonal Council to be held in temple-town Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh on November 14 will take up 26 items, including four proposed by the Centre, for discussion among the southern states and Union Territories.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will chair the meeting that will be attended by Chief Ministers of AP, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana and Puducherry and Lieutenant Governors of Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Administrator of Lakshadweep.

Andhra Pradesh will raise issues like the unauthorised entry and illicit fishing by Tamil Nadu fishing boats in the territorial waters of AP, construction of a minor irrigation project across Palar river in Kuppam of Chittoor district, reimbursement of Rs 338 crore by Tamil Nadu as its share of expenditure for Telugu Ganga Project pertaining to release of drinking water to Chennai city.

AP is also seeking release of Rs 6,015 crore dues, to be paid by the power utilities of Telangana, towards the cost of power supplied after the state bifurcation in June 2014.

The host state has also listed many outstanding issues pertaining to the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 and implementation of its provisions, as per the agenda notes prepared by the Inter-State Council Secretariat.

Tamil Nadu will seek a review of policy on transfer of railway lands for Metro Rail projects on a permanent basis and permission to cross railway lines/ lands.

It is also seeking uniformity in over-all length and engine capacity of fishing boats, to be registered under Merchant Shipping Act, 1958, in all coastal states, which can be used for fishing in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone.

Development of renewable energy by the Centre by removing bottlenecks in the exchange mechanism is another issue on Tamil Nadu's list at the SZC meet.

Kerala has two issues: Prevention of antimicrobial resistance by regulating their use and prevention and control of non-communicable diseases.

As a neighbouring riparian state, Karnataka has issues with AP and Telangana over irrigation projects on Tungabhadra and Krishna rivers respectively. Accordingly, it has listed them for discussion at the SZC meet.

AP and Telangana are required to submit detailed project reports for these schemes, pending which Karnataka wants the states to stop proceeding with the construction work.

Puducherry is seeking supply of sand from Tamil Nadu and also permission for importing sand from abroad. Release of irrigation water to Puducherry from Veedur dam in Tamil Nadu is another issue to be raised by the Union Territory administration.

The UT wants the Centre to expedite signing of memorandum of understanding for the proposed Indravati-Krishna-Godavari-Pennar-Cauveri interlinking project. It has, accordingly, listed the subject for discussion at the SZC.

Implementation of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) Mission, speedy investigation of cases of sexual offence/ rape against women and children, strengthening of the National Leprosy Eradication Programme (NLEP), states' support for effective implementation of NIKSHAY Poshan Yojana (NPY) under Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme are the Central subjects that will be discussed at the SZC.