Chennai, Aug 1:
PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Saturday welcomed the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to approach the Supreme Court to secure the State’s rightful share of Cauvery water, calling it the “only correct course of action” under the current circumstances.
In a statement, he noted that the move comes after Karnataka effectively shut the door on proposed bilateral talks. While the Tamil Nadu government had initially planned for Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay to travel to Bengaluru for discussions with his Karnataka counterpart D.K. Shivakumar on water sharing and the Mekedatu dam issue, the plan was dropped following strong opposition in Tamil Nadu and protests in Karnataka. The Karnataka Chief Minister later stated that the situation was not conducive for talks.
Referring to the subsequent announcement by Tamil Nadu Law Minister R. Nirmal Kumar that the State would move the apex court after August 5, Ramadoss said it was reassuring that the government had “corrected its course” after initially taking what he termed a “wrong path”.
He further argued that Tamil Nadu should adopt a firm policy of avoiding negotiations with Karnataka on Cauvery water sharing and the Mekedatu project, asserting that past experience shows such talks yield no results. “Being new to politics, Chief Minister Vijay might have believed he could secure water through a novel political approach,” he said.
However, Ramadoss alleged that irrespective of the party in power, Karnataka’s chief ministers “will never willingly release water to Tamil Nadu”. He stressed that the State must act swiftly to file a case in the Supreme Court seeking directions to Karnataka to release water as mandated by the Cauvery Water Management Authority.
Emphasising the need for a strong legal strategy, he said Tamil Nadu should present robust data before the court to highlight what he described as a coordinated approach between the Centre and Karnataka on the Mekedatu project. He also called for a firm demand to stay the preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the proposed dam.
Ramadoss reiterated that protecting Tamil Nadu’s water rights is critical for farmers and drinking water needs, and urged the State government to pursue the issue decisively through constitutional and legal means.