AMMK urges postponement of Cauvery Management Authority meeting in Delhi

The AMMK, an ally of opposition AIADMK, on Wednesday called for the immediate postponement of the meeting of the Cauvery Management Authority (CMA) scheduled to be held today in Delhi to discuss the provision of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. In a statement here, AMMK chief TTV Dhinakaran emphasised that any discussion on water distribution to TN and Puducherry should wait until a new political leadership is in place. ''it (meeting) must be ensured that the meeting takes place only after democratically elected governments have been established in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry,'' he said. Dhinakaran claimed that the Tamil Nadu farmers' demand to postpone the meeting in Delhi has been rejected, and that the meeting is set to take place as originally planned. ''The results of the recently concluded Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry (excluding Karnataka) have not yet been declared. It is inappropriate to convene the CMA through officials alone and to deliberate on river water-related issues at this juncture,'' he argued. Referring to the Karnataka government's proposal to construct the Mekedatu dam across the Cauvery River, he warned that the project threatens to turn Tamil Nadu's Cauvery delta regions into a desert. ''Tamil Nadu's farmers fear that the meeting of the CMA scheduled for today could create an environment favourable to that state''. He urged that the CMA meeting should be postponed to accede to the demands of TN's farmers and ensure that this meeting is conducted only after a newly elected government is duly formed in the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry.

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