Tamil Nadu Government Convenes All-Party Meet On Cauvery Ruling

The Edappadi K Palaniswami-led All India Anna Dravida Kazhagam (AIADMK) Government in Tamil Nadu has convened an all-party meet to discuss the Supreme Court ruling on the Cauvery river water dispute on 22 February.

The Tamil Nadu government has been under pressure from political parties, farmers and other associations to file a review petition in the Supreme Court against the judgement that has cut the water allocated to Tamil Nadu by 14.75 Thousand Million Cubic (TMC) feet water.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam planned to convene a meeting of like-minded parties on 23 February to discuss the issue but has now cancelled it as the state government has convened the meeting.

Tamil Nadu Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar told the media that all parties would be invited to the meet. He, however, did not respond to questions if organisations representing farmers would be invited.

Political parties and farmers’ organisations in Tamil Nadu have been expressed concern over the reduction in allocation. However, no one in the state has attempted to aggravate the situation or call for protest.

On 16 February, when the Supreme Court gave is ruling on the dispute, no untoward incident took place in Tamil Nadu. In Karnataka, the ruling was welcomed, though experts said that the additional allocation would not be enough to meet drinking water needs of its capital Bengaluru.