New Delhi: A three-member Central team will assess water availability in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in the wake of a row between the two Southern States on sharing of Cauvery waters.

The team comprising senior officials from Central Water Commission and Ministries of Agriculture and Water Resources would visit the Cauvery basin area up to Mettur Dam in Tamil Nadu and reservoirs in Karnataka to get first-hand information, official sources said here today (June 9, 2004).

The team, which left here this morning for Tamil Nadu, is expected to return on June 11. It will submit a report to the Water Resources Ministry, which will be forwarded to the Prime Minister's Office, the sources said.

The decision to send a Central team was taken after an all-party delegation from Tamil Nadu met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday pleading for emergency release of water by Karnataka to Tamil Nadu to save summer crops in the State.

The Prime Minister has assured the delegation that "a fair solution acceptable to all" would be found on sharing of Cauvery waters among the basin States of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Pondicherry.