BANGALORE: To secure justice to farmers of the State and adequate drinking water to Bangalore City, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said on Tuesday that he is ready to hold talks with his Tamil Nadu counterpart M. Karunanidhi on the Cauvery issue.

Mr. Kumaraswamy told presspersons here that he would meet Mr. Karunanidhi in Chennai, if need be, in the next 8 to 10 days.

The Chief Minister on Monday had a telephonic conversation with Mr. Karunanidhi to greet the latter on the occasion of the Ugadi festival. Later, he spoke on the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal's final award. "Either I will personally meet him (Mr. Karunanidhi) or take a delegation to Tamil Nadu to resolve the differences between the two States on sharing the Cauvery water," he said.

Mr. Karunanidhi had responded positively to his suggestion for talks. Before meeting the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, the Government would hold consultations with legal and irrigation experts and leaders of the Opposition parties in the State. The political parties should back his Government's willingness to hold negotiations with the neighbouring State.

Mr. Kumaraswamy said it was apparent that the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister "is aware of the injustice meted out to Karnataka by the tribunal" which had awarded the State 270 tmcft of water while Tamil Nadu had been awarded 419 tmcft.

He called upon the leaders of Opposition parties in the State and Tamil Nadu to maintain peace and support the governments for arriving at a consensus on the water dispute.

Manmohan apprised

Asked about the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda's opinion on the issue, Mr. Kumaraswamy said Mr. Gowda had apprised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the situation and sought his intervention for an amicable solution to the problem.

The MPs of the State had held a meeting with Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, he said. Earlier in the day, the Chief Minister called upon Governor T.N. Chaturvedi at Raj Bhavan and extended Ugadi greetings to him.

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