New Delhi: A crucial meeting of Cauvery River Authority (CRA) to decide on the
distress sharing formula of river waters between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu has been
convened on February 10.
The decision to this effect is understood to have been taken during a meeting
Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna had with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on
February 3.
Talking to reporters, Water Resources Minister Arjun Charan Sethi said the
meeting, "most probably", would be held on February 10.
Urban Development Minister Ananth Kumar, who was also present at the meeting, said
the Chief Minister requested the Prime Minister to convene the CRA meeting at an
early date.
Kumar said the CRA meeting should decide on the distress sharing formula, as
Karnataka was in the grip of a severe drought with inadequate water for agriculture
and drinking water purposes.
The decision to convene a CRA meeting comes in the wake of Supreme Court asking
attorney general Soli Sorabjee on January 31 to inquire from the Centre the
possibility of an early meeting of the CRA, headed by Prime Minister, to resolve the
issue.
The apex court had asked Sorabjee to ascertain from the government the likely dates
for a meeting of CRA and intimate the same to the court latest by February 4.
PTI
