Cauvery verdict: Tamil Nadu govt to hold all-party meet over SC judgment on 22 February

The Tamil Nadu government has called for an all-party meeting at the Secretariat on 22 February to discuss the  Supreme Court's verdict on the Cauvery dispute , media reports said. “Tamil Nadu government will immediately take steps on the issue after consulting and getting the views of leaders of all parties,” an official release said. DMK working president MK Stalin welcomed the announcement of the all-party meeting and said his party would participate in the meet and give constructive suggestions to the government on the issue. He also said that representatives of farmers associations should be invited for the meet as their opinion on the issue was crucial. The decision comes a day after DMK decided to convene an "all-party meeting" on the Cauvery issue . “A proposed all party meeting called by the DMK in this regard now stands cancelled,” he said. The AIADMK has said its government would continue efforts to get an adequate share of Cauvery water even as the Opposition DMK hit out at it over the alleged inept handling of the case in the apex court.

#FLASH Tamil Nadu Government calls for an All Party Meeting at Tamil Nadu Secretariat on 22nd February over #CauveryVerdict by Supreme Court.

— ANI (@ANI) February 19, 2018

On 17 February, Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswamy had said the Supreme Court verdict reducing the quantum of Cauvery water to be released for Tamil Nadu to 177.25 tmcft was “disappointing”. [caption id=“attachment_4357963” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswamy. News 18[/caption] Palaniswamy, under attack from the DMK for allegedly not handling the matter in the apex court properly, however, said: “Several advantageous features for Tamil Nadu find a place in the verdict.” Tamil Nadu will urge the Centre to implement the action plan within a time frame, he added. The ruling AIADMK’s decision to hold an all-party meet is a marked departure from the stand of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on similar matters. Though DMK has all along sought such meetings on key issues like Cauvery, Jayalalithaa had not acceded to it. The all-party meeting on Cauvery comes after a gap of several years. A similar meet was held during the previous DMK regime when M Karunandihi was the chief minister. The Supreme Court on 16 February directed the Karnataka government to release 177.25 tmcft of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu from its inter-state Biligundlu dam. The judgment was pronounced by a bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices Amitava Roy and AM Khanwilkar, which had on 20 September last year reserved the verdict on the appeals filed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala against the 2007 award of the tribunal. The verdict clarified that Karnataka will now have an enhanced share of 14.75 tmcft water per year while Tamil Nadu will get 404.25 tmcft, which will be 14.75 tmcft less than what was allotted by the tribunal in 2007. For many years, Tamil Nadu had demanded the constitution of a board to ensure it did not have to depend on Karnataka’s benevolence for getting water into the Mettur dam in Salem district. With inputs from agencies