CHENNAI, 16 JULY

A meeting of the legislative party leaders in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Tuesday decided to approach the Supreme Court, if necessary, to get Cauvery water for the state from Karnataka and Chief Minister MK Stalin vowed to take all necessary steps and protect the interests of farmers.

Addressing an all-party meeting at the Secretariat, Stalin assured that the State government would uphold the rights of farmers of the Cauvery delta region.

The government said on 15 July that the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) had directed the release of one TMC ft everyday from 12 July, 2024 to 31 July, 2024. Karnataka had said that it is ready to release 8,000 cusecs of water and not one TMC ft (11,500 cusecs).

Siddaramaiah deplored that Karnataka does not even release a decreased quantum of water stipulated by CWRC. He said since the Karnataka government did not release Cauvery water last year in compliance with a verdict of the Supreme Court, farmers were severely affected.

Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan, DMK's P Wilson (Rajya Sabha MP and senior advocate), R S Bharathi (party organisation secretary), AIADMK's SP Velumani and OS Manian, (both former ministers) took part.

All party representatives supported the state's stand that water should be secured from Karnataka to protect the interests of the state and its farmers. -PTI