Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Friday vowed to take all necessary steps including consultation with legal experts to ensure that the State got its rightful share of Cauvery water.
In a statement, Mr. Palaniswami said that several decisions in the case went in the State’s favour in the past due to the efforts taken by the AIADMK government. Rejecting criticism from the DMK, Mr. Palaniswami contended it was only during the party’s regime in 1974 that the State’s rights in the issue were lost.
Mr. Palaniswami also alleged that the DMK leaders were not focussing on the several favourable points in the verdict with an intention to find fault with the AIADMK government.
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The Cauvery river was “intertwined” with the lives of the Tamils since time immemorial, and being a lower riparian State, Tamil Nadu had “more rights” on the river, Mr. Palanswami contended. The agreements signed in 1892 and 1924 only reiterated the State’s right over the river.
However, the Karnataka government constructed various dams across the river during the late 1960s and early 1970s even without consulting other States and the Central government. Though the government under the then Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran took up the issue, the Centre didn’t respond positively, the CM contended.
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‘Credit goes to Jaya’
Listing out the developments in the dispute both in the tribunal and in the Supreme Court, Mr. Palaniswami claimed that it was only during former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s rule that strong efforts were made to ensure the rights of the State.