Delay in all-party delegation meeting PM on Cauvery is worrying: Ramadoss

Chennai, March 2 (IANS) The continuing delay by an all-party delegation led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami in meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Cauvery waters issue — post a Supreme Court judgement — is worrying, PMK founder S. Ramadoss said on Friday.

On February 22, at a meeting of leaders of all political parties and representatives of farmer associations here, it was decided Palaniswami would lead a delegation to meet Modi and urge him to set up Cauvery Management Board (CMB) and Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee — as the Supreme Court had mandated.

The Supreme Court had on February 16, while ordering the central government to set up the CMB and the Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee within six weeks, had also reduced Tamil Nadu’s share in the waters to 177.25 thousand million cubic feet (TMC), down from 192 TMC allocated by a tribunal in 2007.

Ramadoss said soon after the all-party meeting decided to meet Modi, the state government’s representative in Delhi should have got in touch with Prime Minister’s Office and sought an appointment.

If that was not possible, Chief Minister Palaniswami should have spoken to Modi during his recent visit here and got an appointment for a meeting with the all-party delegation.

Ramadoss said even if this was not done, an official delegation led by the Chief Secretary or the Secretary, Public Works Department, should have been sent to the Prime Minister’s Office for fixing an appointment with Modi.

Ramadoss said there is no news whether any of all this was done by those in power in Tamil Nadu.

According to Ramadoss, it is worrying that there is no progress on the decision to meet Modi.

Ramadoss said Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam used to meet Modi regularly earlier. But in the case of an important issue concerning the state it is unclear why the doors of the Prime Minister’s Office are not opening.

There is again a fear that Tamil Nadu would again be cheated out its share of the Cauvery waters, he said.