Convene CRA meeting forthwith: Jaya urges PM
Chennai, Aug 23 (UNI)
Reiterating her demand, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to forthwith convene a meeting of the Cauvery River Water Authority (CRA) as its Chairperson, to adopt the Distress Sharing Formula 'as a distress situation has arisen in the State now'.
In a Demi-Official letter to the Prime Minister, copies of which were released to the media here, Ms Jayalalithaa also urged him to advise the Karnataka Government to release water for raising the Samba crop in the Cauvery Basin of Tamil Nadu.
She said Karnataka had not released any water from its reservoirs during the irrigation year 2012-2013, while it has opened the reservoir for its irrigation.
The Mettur Dam could not be opened till date due to the reluctance of the Karnataka Government even to share minimum flows.
Ms Jayalalithaa said as per the Interim Order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, Mettur Dam should have realised 95.480 TMC ft as on August 23 against which only a meagre quantity of 9.187 TMC ft has been realised.
"Further, according to the Distress Sharing Formula evolved by the Central Water Commission, Mettur Dam should have realised about 43.837 TMC ft as on August 23. The farmers in the Cauvery Delta region, having lost the Kuruvai crop, are hoping at least to raise one single Samba crop for their livelihood," she noted.
"It is, therefore, imperative that the Karnataka government is advised to release water to make good the shortfall quantity as per the Distress Sharing Formula and also to share the flows in this distress situation," she added.