CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay will meet his Karnataka counterpart D K Shivakumar in Bengaluru on August 3 to seek state’s rightful share of Cauvery water on a pro-rata basis after accounting for the rainfall deficit. The Karnataka govt confirmed the meeting on Monday following a request from Tamil Nadu, highly placed sources told TOI.The proposed talks have drawn opposition from parties, including DMK and PMK, which have urged Vijay to call off the visit. They warned that bilateral negotiations could undermine Tamil Nadu’s legal position in the interstate water dispute. The last bilateral meeting between the chief ministers of the two states was held in Bengaluru in Nov 2012. Then chief minister J Jayalalithaa met her Karnataka counterpart Jagadish Shettar following a Supreme Court suggestion that the states attempt to find an amicable solution. The talks, however, failed to break the deadlock.“We will seek our share of water. If Karnataka has received about 40% of the expected inflows, it should release 40% of Tamil Nadu’s stipulated share. Mekedatu will also be on the agenda,” an official source said. TVK govt is keen to exhaust all available options, including bilateral talks, before approaching the Supreme Court for relief. Tamil Nadu has maintained that Karnataka failed to release Cauvery water proportionately despite the rainfall deficit. The situation has turned precarious as the state could not open the Mettur dam for irrigation on the customary date of June 12. Farmers in the delta have consequently been forced to rely on borewells instead of canal irrigation.Former water resources minister and DMK leader Duraimurugan said the lower riparian state should raise any shortfall in water release before the Cauvery water management authority and the Cauvery water regulation committee. It could subsequently approach the Central water commission or the Union Jal Shakti ministry, he said. “If talks are held, the Supreme Court’s order will be rendered ineffective. There is no need to go and plead when we have orders of the apex court. The govt should have discussed the Cauvery issue with opposition parties,” Duraimurugan told reporters.DMK president M K Stalin and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday urged the state govt to convene an all-party meeting on the issue. Stalin asked Vijay to call off the Bengaluru visit, while Palaniswami cited the inconclusive 2012 meeting between Jayalalithaa and Shettar to question the effectiveness of bilateral talks.
