A day after the Supreme Court pulled up the Centre for delay in convening the Cauvery River Authority, the government set September 19 for a CRA meeting here to discuss the issue of sharing of Cauvery waters among the riparian States of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry.
The CRA, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is meeting after almost nine years to discuss Tamil Nadu’s demand for immediate release of water by Karnataka as it is facing distress. Tamil Nadu moved the Supreme Court to urge the CRA to approve the distress-sharing formula arrived at by the Cauvery Monitoring Committee.
In touch with CMs
On Tuesday, Water Resources Minister P.K. Bansal told journalists that the Centre was in touch with the Chief Ministers of the member-States.
The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal announced its final award in 2007. In its interim order, the tribunal, set up in 1990, allocated 205 tmcft of water to Tamil Nadu. The CRA was set up in 1997 to ensure implementation of the interim order.