CHENNAI: An all-party meet on the Cauvery issue will be held in Chennai on Monday (February 19) under the chairmanship of Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, the Government announced on Wednesday.

An official release stated that the meeting would begin at 10 a.m. at the Secretariat.

Since the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal gave its final award on February 5, many organisations have been calling for an all-party meet.

The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's ally, Pattali Makkal Katchi, and the Federation of Farmers' Associations of Thanjavur, Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur districts are among them.

PMK founder S. Ramadoss, in one of his statements, urged the Government to provide copies of the text of the final order to recognised political parties.

On Saturday last, the Chief Minister, in a statement, said his Government would have no hesitation to take corrective action with regard to the final award after holding discussions with water and legal experts, representatives of farmers and party leaders.

Dr. Ramadoss told The Hindu that Electricity Minister Arcot N. Veerasamy informed him on Wednesday morning about the meeting. Copies of the final order would be furnished to the parties.

Strong reservations

Though the Tribunal order has given a higher share of the Cavuery water to Tamil Nadu with a timetable of monthly releases to be made by Karnataka, several aspects in the order were received with strong reservations from a section of farmers and political parties.

The Tribunal did not accept the contention of Tamil Nadu on assessing the yield on 75 per cent dependability. Instead, it chose the 50 per cent dependability factor. For monitoring the flows, the reference point chosen by the Tribunal was Billigundulu [or any site on the common border of the two States] and not Mettur, as wanted by Tamil Nadu. Double crop has not been allowed for around 3.2 lakh acres. Another grouse of farmers and parties is that unlike the Narmada and Krishna tribunals, the Cauvery tribunal has not protected the existing irrigation completely. And, the distress sharing formula has not been spelt out in detail.

But there are positive features too. Groundwater availability in Tamil Nadu has not been taken into account. Lift irrigation schemes of Karnataka have not been allowed. The upper riparian State cannot take action, affecting water releases to lower riparian States.

A regulatory authority has been prescribed to monitor monthly releases.

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