TN CM welcomes setting up of Cauvery Water Management

Welcoming the constitution of a Cauvery Water Management Authority (CMA) by the Centre, the Tamil Nadu government has hailed it as a "grand victory for the "Amma (Jayalalithaa) government" and the state's farmers.

Chief Minister K Palaniswami expressed joy and recalled the various efforts of the ruling AIADMK on the Cauvery dispute, including the late party supremo J Jayalalithaa going on a fast in the 1990s on the issue.

The CMA had been set up following the AIADMK government's sustained efforts and legal battles, he added.

AIADMK leaders had observed a fast while opposition parties in the state staged protests in April demanding constitution of the CMA.

Acting on the Supreme Court's direction, the Centre has constituted the CMA to address the dispute over sharing of river water among Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry and issued a gazette notification.

"This is a grand victory for the Amma government and Tamil Nadu's farmers," Palaniswami said in a statement yesterday adding the rights of Tamil Nadu and farmers' livelihood "have been retrieved."