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CM's suggestion akin to sacrificing rights over Cauvery water: PMK

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI JUNE 7. The PMK founder-leader, S. Ramadoss, today criticised the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa's suggestion to delta farmers that they go in for alternative crops in view of uncertainty over opening of the Mettur reservoir for kuruvai cultivation.

The move, he said, would tantamount to sacrificing the State's rights over Cauvery water.

In a statement here, Mr. Ramadoss recalled that when he appealed to Ms. Jayalalithaa a few days ago to meet the Prime Minister to ensure Cauvery supply, her Cabinet colleague, O. Paneerselvam, replied that her leader needed no advice from anybody as she knew how to get water for the State. What happened to that claim?

Last year, Karnataka, which expressed its inability to release water to Tamil Nadu, ensured adequate supply to its farmers for two crops and sugarcane, said Dr. Ramadoss. Unfortunately Ms. Jayalalithaa failed to expose the `injustice done by Karnataka' to Tamil Nadu farmers, who had lost three successive crops.

The PMK leader also charged that the Chief Minister had not shown in this issue, the interest she evinced in writing letters to all Chief Ministers, when her move to demolish the Queen Mary's College here was prevented by a Central notification on coastal zone regulation. While she termed the notification a blatant interference in States' rights, she had not taken steps to mobilise opinion against Karnataka's intransigence at the national level.

Drawing a parallel with Andhra Pradesh, Dr. Ramadoss said its Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, did not stand on prestige but wrote to the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, seeking her support in getting the State's share of river water from Karnataka.

Ms. Jayalalithaa, he said, should respond to constructive suggestions offered by Opposition parties, instead of standing on prestige, which would only affect the State's interests.

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