The AIADMK’s general secretary, Edapadi K. Palaniswami, on Saturday asked Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to rush to Bengaluru and hold talks with his Karnataka counterpart Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, to secure the State’s share of Cauvery water.
In a statement, he said that as the storage in Karnataka reservoirs was over 80% of their capacity, Mr. Stalin should take steps to obtain a total of 86.38 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft), a quantity that had been prescribed for the period of June to August, in order to save the kuruvai crop raised over an extent of about 3.5 lakh acres in T.N.
Mr Palaniswami also urged the DMK government to stop the land survey being carried out in the neighbouring State for the construction of a dam across the Cauvery in Mekedatu as the project, if implemented, would lead to the “desertification” of Tamil Nadu. Also, it would be the duty and responsibility of Mr. Stalin to pull up the Congress government in Karnataka in the event of the latter not complying with the guidelines of the Cauvery Water Management Authority and the judgements of the Supreme Court for “political reasons,” the AIADMK leader added.
Meanwhile, in another statement, the general secretary said that until now, about 2.44 crore persons had applied for membership of the AIADMK. The last date for submission of filled-in application forms had been extended to August 17, 2023.
