Friday, July 28 2006 17:23 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The Cauvery waters dispute once again had an echo in the Rajya Sabha today (July 28, 2006) with members belonging to all the four riparian states clashing over the issue during Zero Hour.

The members, cutting across party lines, demanded that the final verdict of the Cauvery waters dispute tribunal should be expedited in order to help Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Pondicherry.

Raising the issue, Congress member from Pondicherry V Narayanasamy said the term of the tribunal should not be extended and it should submit its report to the Government as early as possible.

He accused Karnataka of failing to honour its commitment of releasing water to lower riparian states.

Supporting him, P G Narayanan (AIADMK) said Tamil Nadu has been at the receiving end in getting its legitimate share of water from Karnataka.

He was joined by his party colleagues who were concerned over newspaper reports saying the final verdict of the tribunal would be delayed.

B K Hari Prasad (Cong) and A Vijayaraghavan (CPI-M) also expressed concern over the matter.