Do not tinker with Cauvery water tribunal, says Edappadi K Palaniswami

Chennai: The TN government protested against the Centre’s move to amend the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act and insisted that this was not required as the existing provisions under the 1956 Act would suffice. It also insisted that the functioning of the existing Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal not be hampered under the pretext of transferring pending applications to the said Inter State River Water Disputes Tribunal, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami conveyed to the Centre on Wednesday

In a letter addressed to Union water resources and shipping minister Nitin Gadkari, a copy of which was made available to the media here, Mr Palaniswami said that there was no need to constitute a permanent Water Disputes Tribunal to adjudicate inter-state river water disputes between states. “The Centre’s decision to amend the act would have far reaching implications,” Mr Palaniswami held and pointed out that each and every water dispute between the states is unique in character and water disputes that arise are complex in their mode unlike the usual civil and criminal cases normally dealt with by courts.

The CM said that the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal is in a better position in terms of continuity and institutional memory to dispose of applications. Hence, there was no need to transfer matters pending it to the Permanent Water Disputes Tribunal for adjudication in the event of the proposed amendments to the act of 1956 coming into force,” he explained.