Cauvery issue on top of Jaya's priority list for Central govt

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha said on Tuesday she had told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the Cauvery Management Board should be formed without delay.
She said only after the board is formed can the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee be set up.

“It is only after that that the final order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal can be implemented. The prime minister promised to look into it and do the needful expeditiously,” she told reporters.

Tamil Nadu's contention is that the board had not been formed for the past seven years despite the final award being delivered in 2007.

The TN chief minister also said she particularly stressed the need to expedite the formation of the Supervisory Committee to raise the water level of the Mullaperiyar Dam, as ordered by the Supreme Court.

“The Supreme Court has ruled that the water level can be raised to 142 feet and there has to be a Supervisory Committee to oversee the raising of the water level consisting of three persons—one to be appointed by the Tamil Nadu government, one by the Kerala government and one by the Central Water Commission,” she said.

“We in Tamil Nadu have appointed our member; Kerala has also appointed its member. So, I urged the prime minister to expedite the nomination of a member from the Central Water Commission so that before the south-west monsoon sets in, the water level can be raised to 142 feet,” said Jayalalitha. The prime minister has promised that action would be taken within a week, she said, denying that she had made any demand for a special financial package for the state.

“Rather, I have pointed out that there are many allocations which have been made by the Centre since 2010 which have been announced in the Central Budget but have not actually been delivered to Tamil Nadu,” she said.

Jaya, aide to appear in court on June 9

A magistrate court here on Tuesday directed AIADMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha and her close aide Sasikala to appear before it on June 9 in cases related to non-filing of tax returns, DHNS reports from Chennai.

The defence had sought adjournment of the cases till July 7, which the counsel for the Income Tax Department opposed. Subsequently, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (Economic Offences-I) R Dakshinamoorthy directed Jayalalitha and Sasikala to appear before the court on June 9.