The Centre has asked Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to explain in writing, by the first week of March, their positions with regard to the row over the Pennaiyar river.
This was decided at Monday's inaugural meeting of the Negotiation Committee, which was constituted by the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti a month ago to resolve issues concerning the river. Central Water Commission chairman Rajendra Kumar Jain presided over the meeting.
At the meeting in New Delhi which lasted nearly 90 minutes, Tamil Nadu wanted the Centre to bring to a halt several projects of Karnataka which included drawing of water to fill 160 tanks and for irrigation purposes and drawing of 284 million cubic feet (mcft) of water. Karnataka took the stand that Tamil Nadu had nothing to fear as the projects would not affect its rights, according to two officials of the State government.
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In November last year, the Supreme Court, while dismissing Tamil Nadu’s suit for injunction on the projects, asked Karnataka to approach the Centre for getting a tribunal formed to resolve the issue.
The Centre had given six months’ time to the Negotiation Committee to settle the issue. The panel includes representatives of the Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry governments, besides officials of the Union Ministries of Agriculture and Environment and Forests.