Meeting of the 'Cauvery Family'

TIRUCHIRAPALLI: The eighth meeting of the 'Cauvery Family', a dialogue group formed to amicably resolve the Cauvery water issue, will be held for two days at Mandhya in Karnataka from January 31.

The Cauvery Family meet comes at a time when the Cauvery River Water Disputes Tribunal, headed by Chairman Justice N P Singh, is expected to give its final verdict on February 5, said V Ganapathy, Member of the Core Group of the Tamil Nadu Cauvery Family.

The Tribunal will pronounce its final verdict on apportioning Cauvery water among the riparian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry.

Fourteen members of the Cauvery Family from the state were expected to take part in the meeting and deliberate on various issues, including the sharing of water during the deficit years.

The Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai constituted the Cauvery Family three years ago to promote cooperation among the riparian states in solving the water issue.

It consists of federations of farmers' organisations of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.