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New Delhi: Cutting across party affiliations, members from Tamil Nadu in the Lok Sabha on May 8 demanded immediate implementation of the interim award of the Cauvery River Water Tribunal, saying the state would otherwise face an unprecedented water crisis.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Congress, said it was the duty of the Prime Minister as chairman of the Cauvery River Water Authority "to rise to his responsibility" before the crisis hits the state.

He regretted that the interim award had not been respected at any time.

The Congress member said the Cauvery delta, the rice bowl of India, has turned into a desert. He demanded that the tribunal award be implemented so that water reaches the Cauvery delta.

V Saroja, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), demanded that a meting of the Cauvery Monitoring Committee be convened immediately to work out the distress water-sharing formula.

She said the Mettur dam with a capacity of 92 TMC ft has now just four TMC ft of water left. She said the farmers had been hit badly due to the water crisis, leaving them with withered paddy. The state was also facing drinking water problem, she said.

S S Palanimanickam, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), also highlighted the plight of farmers in Tamil Nadu, which had faced unprecedented drought last year.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Bhavna Chikalia assured the members that she would convey their concerns to the Prime Minister.

PTI