Cauvery issue: MK Stalin convenes all-party meet on Oct 25

DMK Treasurer and Opposition leader in the Tamil Nadu Assembly M K Stalin has convened an all-party meeting here on October 25 to discuss the Cauvery issue.

Chennai, Oct 22: DMK Treasurer and Opposition leader in the Tamil Nadu Assembly M K Stalin has convened an all-party meeting here on October 25 to discuss the Cauvery issue.

The Dravidian party's allies, Congress and IUML, confirmed their participation for the Tuesday meeting, even as BJP had already ruled out its presence if DMK held such a meeting.

Stalin said that the October 25 meeting was being held following pleas from various quarters, including Cauvery delta farmers and public to "exert serial pressure" on the Cauvery issue.

"The meeting has been convened (under him) as Opposition Leader at (DMK headquarters) Anna Arivalayam on October 25 at 10.30 am," Stalin said his letter to different parties.

He said that in the Supreme Court, the issue of constitution of Cauvery Management Board (CMB) has taken a "back seat" with the focus now shifting to maintainability of appeals filed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala against the 2007 award of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal (CWDT).

Further, the prospects of current Samba crop in the Cauvery delta districts was also under question due to the low storage levels at Mettur dam, he said.

Even if Karnataka fully complied with the latest Supreme Court order, asking it to release 2,000 cusecs of water, the prospects of Samba did not look bright, Stalin said.

Stalin had earlier this month said that the DMK, which had been repeatedly urging the Tamil Nadu government to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the Cauvery issue, had said his party will conduct such a meeting if the ruling AIADMK failed to do so. Meanwhile, DMK's allies, Congress and IUML, expressed their support for the meeting.

TNCC President Su Thirunavukkarasar said that he would participate in the meeting. BJP's state unit, which has been critical of both Congress and DMK on the Cauvery issue, had already ruled out its participation if the latter convened an all-party meeting.

State unit President Tamilisai Sounderrajan had earlier said her party would participate only in a government convened all-party meeting as it was not DMK's responsibility to do so.

The Cauvery issue has once again come to haunt inter-state relations between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, with the former approaching the Supreme Court seeking its directive to the upper riparian state on water release.

After allowing different quantum of water release, the Apex Court had on October 18 asked Karnataka to release 2,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu till further orders. The BJP government at the Centre has also been facing flak in Tamil Nadu for seeking a modification of the Supreme Court directive to it on constituting the CMB.

PTI