Setting up Cauvery Water Management Board good: TN Minister

Tamil Nadu Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar today hailed the Supreme Court's direction for setting up the Cauvery Water Management Board, but regretted the lower allocation of river water to the state.
He said that late chief minister Jayalalithaa, popularly called Amma, was in favour of such a board. "Amma's government considered the setting up of CWMB, (which the Supreme Court has directed in the verdict) a good thing," the minister said. Terming the reduced allocation of water to Tamil Nadu as regretful, the AIADMK leader, however, added he was expressing this view on the basis of media reportage and "the full judgement needs to be studied". "Only through the media we got to know about the judgement and it is about 400 pages and it needs to be fully studied for the government to comment," Jayakumar said. He said the court ruling that the river does not belong to anyone was a welcome aspect. All efforts were taken up to strongly present the state's case in the Cauvery dispute in the Supreme Court, he said. On the opposition DMK hitting out at the government, he said DMK does not have the locus standi to comment on the matter as it did not prevent efforts for construction of new dams by Karnataka during the early 1970s when DMK leader M Karunanidhi was the Chief Minister.

"Government will decide further steps on evaluation of the judgement," he said.