Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on Sunday urged the Centre to uphold its responsibility for resolving water disputes the State had with neighbours such as Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka in the interests of maintaining national unity and integrity.
Tamil Nadu, which had all wealth, faced water shortage and the Centre should involve itself in settling the dispute on the water front in the interests of the prosperity of the people of the State, he said, inaugurating the ‘Periyar Centre' here. The Centre should “wake up” and take responsible and proactive steps to solve the water disputes.
Both Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka had been in a denial mode to release excess water to Tamil Nadu and unity should not be a “one-way traffic.” He said: “It has to be both ways...Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka don't give excess water to us.”
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Referring to Union Minister Farooq Abdullah's speech in which he asked the Chief Minister to come out of Tamil Nadu and work for the entire country, Mr. Karunanidhi said he had been doing whatever he could to the nation from “where I am based. It is not necessary that one has to come here [national politics] and work for the nation.”
Mr. Karunanidhi eulogised social reformer Periyar and hoped that the Periyar Centre would educate people in this part of the country about the revolutionary steps the great leader had taken. He also announced a donation of Rs.5 lakh to the Centre.