Tamil Nadu is for “very cordial” ties with neighbouring States, according to Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami.
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It was because of this approach that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had responded to the request of the Tamil Nadu government and ordered the release of Krishna water for Chennai from Wednesday to address the issue of drinking water shortage of the city, Mr Palaniswami told journalists, before leaving for Thiruvananthapuram to hold talks with his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan on a host of water-related matters including the review of bilateral Parambikulam-Aliyar agreement.
“Today’s talks are for the welfare of farmers and people of the two States,” Mr Palaniswami pointed out.
It was after a gap of 15 years that Chief Ministers of the two States were holding a discussion on the review of the Parambikulam-Aliyar agreement.
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Mr. Palaniswami said the meeting would also touch upon other matters such as Kerala’s approval for Pandiyar–Punnampuzha scheme and Nirar–Nallar multipurpose project; the resumption of water release from the Neyyar dam in Kerala to Vilavancode taluk of Kanniyakumari district in Tamil Nadu for irrigation [which was stopped by Kerala in March 2004], expeditious approval for repairs of the Shenbagavalli anicut, [which is located in the Periyar basin of Kerala, facilitating water for irrigation in Tirunelveli and Virudhunagar districts].
To a question whether the issue of restoring the water level of the Mullaperiyar dam would be raised in the meeting, he replied that “we will discuss all such matters. We are hopeful of a favourable resolution of all the issues.”
Asked whether he would meet Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa over the Cauvery matter, he replied that the Supreme Court had given a “clear cut” verdict on the matter. “It is for Karnataka to act as per the judgment.”
Following the Court’s verdict, the Central government had established the Cauvery Water Management Authority. “Water is being released to us every month as per orders of the Authority,” he said.
When queried whether the by-elections to the Vikravandi and Nanguneri Assembly constituencies would pose a huge challenge to the ruling party in the light of drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls, Mr Palaniswami, who is also the co-coordinator of the party, expressed the confidence that the AIADMK would emerge victoriously.
He recalled how his party had done “exceedingly well” in the poll to the Vellore parliamentary constituency, which was held a couple of months after the Lok Sabha polls. Not only did the margin of defeat come down but also the party obtain higher votes in three segments of the Vellore constituency than the DMK.
The Chief Minister cited the case of Gudiyatham, where the DMK won in the by-election [polling for which was held in April] by a margin of 28,000 votes but the AIADMK garnered about 12,000 votes during the Vellore Lok Sabha election higher than what the DMK did.