Pattali Makkal Katchi founder S. Ramadoss on Thursday called for negotiated settlements on the Cauvery, Palar, Mullaperiyar river issues with the involvement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
He told reporters here on Thursday that the solution for all these issues lay in convening a meeting of the Chief Ministers of the States concerned – Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Puducherry – under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister.
All the three issues were in the Supreme Court now. In some issues, the orders issued by the Supreme Court in favour of Tamil Nadu were not respected by other States.
He said many river water disputes had been solved within River Water Disputes Act 1956. But, the Act and tribunals had not helped in resolving the Cauvery, Mullaperiyar and Palar issues. This was because of the indifferent attitude of the governments that had ruled and were now ruling Tamil Nadu.
With respect to the Palar, Karnataka had built the Pettamangalam, Ramsagar and Vishnusagar dams. Andhra Pradesh had built 22 dams. Now there was no water in the Palar in Tamil Nadu.
It irrigated Vellore, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts. Dr. Ramadoss objected to the fixing of meters for agriculture motors. Farmers suspected this was a move to charge for the power consumed at a later stage. Expressing concern over the increase in the price of cement per bag to Rs.320, he said the government had introduced a scheme of selling cement through fair price shops at a reasonable rate, but this was not properly implemented.
