DMK urges PM Modi to withdraw clarification plea over Cauvery issue from SC

The DMK urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday to withdraw the Centre's plea seeking clarification over the Cauvery issue and constitute forth with the Cauvery Management Board to implement the apex court order on it.

In a letter to Modi, DMK working president M K Stalin also sought an appointment with him, saying he and the leaders of other opposition parties wanted to apprise him of the Tamil Nadu natives' sentiments over the issue and seek his immediate intervention in it. He said the Centre's March 29 clarification plea seeking a further extension of three months to implement the apex court's order was perceived as "unfair, unjust and unreasonable and consequently has pushed the entire state into a crisis." Stalin, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, urged Prime Minister Modi to direct the Ministry of Water Resources to immediately withdraw the clarification plea from the court.

The apex court had on April 9 directed the Centre to frame a draft Cauvery management scheme and file it by May 3 for implementation of its judgement on distribution of water among Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and other riparian states. Stalin said the leaders of opposition parties wanted to apprise Modi of the "looming agricultural crisis in the state.. of the sentiments in Tamil Nadu and urge you to intervene in this issue immediately." A meeting of the opposition parties led by DMK, held here yesterday, has decided to seek an appointment to meet Modi on the Cauvery issue, saying the AIADMK government has not implemented a resolution passed at the Feb 22 all-party meeting to meet the PM.

Last week, the opposition leaders had urged state Governor Banwarilal Purohit to facilitate a meeting with Prime Minister Modi. In his letter today, a copy of which was released to media, Stalin said, "There is an outpouring of public sentiment," due to non-implementation of the Supreme Court's judgment on the Cauvery issue. Pinning the blame on the AIADMK regime, he claimed "the people of Tamil Nadu have given up hope that the present government would effectively represent their voice or ensure protection of their rights."

The DMK leader requested the Prime Minister to enforce apex court's Feb 16 judgement in "the letter and spirit by duly constituting the Cauvery Management Board at the earliest, and not wait till the next hearing on May 3, 2018 or the Karnataka election." He also wanted Modi to reprimand the Union Water Resources Minister and the Ministry's Secretary for their "inappropriate and contumacious interviews (to media) which have further vitiated the issue." Stalin said he was writing to the Prime Minister on behalf of "the political parties from Tamil Nadu, farmers associations, traders' groups, labour unions and the citizens of Tamil Nadu," who have been aggrieved on the Cauvery issue.

He drew Modi's attention to the apex court's judgement directing the Centre to frame a scheme within six weeks to put into operation the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, thereby resolving the decades-long dispute once and for all.