TN assembly resolution urges Centre to set up Cauvery board

Stepping up pressure on the Centre over the Cauvery issue, the Tamil Nadu Assembly today adopted a unanimous resolution urging it to constitute the Cauvery water management board (CMB) within six weeks.

While the ruling AIADMK said the issue was "intertwined with the aspirations" of the entire state, opposition DMK mooted en masse resignation of MLAs if the Centre did not set up CMB and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) within six weeks.

Chief Minister K Palaniswami hours later wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi bringing to his notice the assembly resolution.

At a special afternoon sitting, exclusively convened to discuss the Cauvery issue, the DMK-led opposition supported the government resolution moved by Palaniswami.

"This House insists that Centre should constitute the empowered CMB and CWRC and implement them within six weeks," the resolution said.

It recalled the February 16 verdict of the Supreme Court on appeals by the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka governments over the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal's final order.

Moving the resolution, the Chief Minister said the river water dispute was not just confined to the Cauvery delta regions "but is intertwined with the aspirations of entire Tamil Nadu."