TN CM to fly to Delhi tomorrow amid Cauvery protests

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami will leave for New Delhi tomorrow on an official visit, amid speculation about a possible meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the backdrop of strong pro-Cauvery protests in the state.

Palaniswami, who will attend a meeting of chief ministers called by Modi to discuss various schemes to be implemented on the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, may meet some Union ministers but there was no official word on his interaction with the prime minister.

Palaniswami had earlier submitted a memorandum to Modi during the latter's visit here recently where he had urged the Centre to constitute the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) and Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee (CWRC) urgently.

Tamil Nadu has been witnessing protests by opposition parties, including the DMK, and some other outfits over the delay in constitution of the CMB despite the February 16 order of the Supreme Court.

In a significant verdict to resolve the decades-old dispute between southern riparian states over Cauvery river water sharing, the apex court had increased Karnataka's quota by 14.75 tmcft and reduced that of Tamil Nadu while allowing it to extract 10 tmcft of groundwater from the river basin.

The state government has also filed a contempt petition against the Centre in the Supreme Court for not constituting the CMB within six weeks from February 16, the day the apex court pronounced its verdict.

The top court has since asked the Centre to formulate a draft Cauvery management scheme and agreed to hear on May 3 its plea seeking two more weeks to finalise the scheme.

The Centre had sought time saying discussions were being held at various levels.