New Delhi: Tamil Nadu's main opposition AIADMK staged a protest here on Thursday condemning the DMK government for "not guarding" the state's rights to Cauvery river water, pointing out that Karnataka's Mekedatu dam proposal was recently discussed by the Cauvery Water Management Authority.
Leading the demonstration, party General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said the setting up of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) by the Centre in 2018 had been the success of the AIADMK and the farmers.
Palaniswami, the leader of opposition, recalled that his party had stalled parliamentary proceedings for 22 days on the Cauvery issue, following which the Centre later notified the Cauvery Water Management Scheme on 1 June 2018 constituting the CWMA and CWRC.
The former chief minister criticised current Chief Minister M K Stalin for his alleged inability to secure water for Tamil Nadu and establish the state's rights. However, when the AIADMK was in power, the state government ensured the release of water to Tamil Nadu, he said.
Till such time that the AIADMK was in power, the CWMA did not take up Karnataka's proposal to build the Mekedatu dam for discussion either, he pointed out.
However, on February 1, the matter was taken up by the CMWA at its 28th meeting.
"The Tamil Nadu officials should have staged a walkout when the Mekedatu issue was taken up by the CWMA in its meeting," he said. By not doing so, the DMK regime has caused a 'big problem,' as the CWMA has referred the Mekedatu dam proposal to the Central Water Commission, and it is not known what stand the central panel would take in this regard, he added.
Chief Minister Stalin could not even preserve the successes achieved by the AIADMK regime on the Cauvery issue, Palaniswami said, labelling him "inept".
If Karnataka succeeds in building the Mekedatu dam, it would lead to desertification of Tamil Nadu's delta regions, he cautioned.
Furthermore, Palaniswami alleged that Karnataka does not release water to Tamil Nadu as stipulated by the Supreme Court in the Cauvery issue, and the "inept" DMK regime has been unable to secure the state's share of water from the neighbouring state.
Be it the BJP or the Congress, whenever they capture power in Karnataka, they betray Tamil Nadu by not releasing the state's due share of water.
Recently, the AIADMK had staged a walkout from the assembly after raising the issue of Karnataka's Mekedatu dam proposal being discussed in the CWMA meeting.
(This report has been published as part of an auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)