Chennai: Chief minister C Joseph Vijay on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to fast-track the Godavari-Cauvery-Gundar river linking project and declare it a project of national importance.“The Godavari-Cauvery-Gundar link represents the most significant long-term opportunity for augmenting Tamil Nadu’s surface water resources. The project is of vital importance to redress the growing needs of drinking water and irrigation for the population in Tamil Nadu,” Vijay said.The chief minister said districts such as Pudukkottai, Sivagangai, Ramanathapuram and Virudhunagar continue to face “chronic water scarcity” and are highly drought-prone. He said implementation of the Godavari-Cauvery-Vaigai-Gundar link project would facilitate the transfer of floodwaters from water-surplus basins to water-deficit regions, making it the “most sustainable solution” to meet the growing drinking water and irrigation requirements.Referring to the progress made so far, Vijay National Water Development Agency (NWDA) has prepared the detailed project report (DPR) for the Godavari-Pennar-Palar-Vellar link as the first phase of the larger interlinking project, benefiting Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. He pointed out that the proposed alignment currently ends a few kilometres upstream of Cauvery river and requested that the Godavari-Cauvery-Gundar linkage be taken up on priority.Expressing confidence that differences among states could be resolved through “constructive consultation and cooperative federalism”, Vijay sought the constitution of a dedicated special purpose vehicle (SPV) involving Union govt and beneficiary states to ensure coordinated implementation, assured funding and timely completion.He also urged PM Modi to direct ministry of jal shakti and NWDA to expedite consultations with stakeholder states, finalise the DPR extending the link up to Kattalai Barrage across Cauvery, and accord priority to the project to fast-track implementation as a national project.
