Tamil Nadu CM Vijay, to seek national project status for the Godavari-Cauvery river linking project

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay is set to press the Centre for speedy implementation of the Godavari-Cauvery river linking project, and to seek national project status for it, at the 31st Southern Zonal Council meeting at Kovalam near Mamallapuram on Thursday.

The project envisages diverting surplus Godavari water to the water-deficit Cauvery basin, potentially easing shortages across the southern states. Vijay wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this month seeking directions to the Jal Shakti Ministry and the National Water Development Agency to expedite consultations with the states concerned. He met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday night ahead of the meeting, his first meeting with Shah since taking oath.

Shah chairs the roughly four-hour session, beginning at 10 am, with Vijay as vice-chairman. The council comprises Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, along with Puducherry, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep. Telangana is represented by Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka in the absence of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.

Vijay is expected to raise the Cauvery and Mekedatu disputes and inter-state coordination on drug control. Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar is likely to counter Mekedatu, Kerala to raise Mullaperiyar, and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to speak on river linking.

Amit Shah will lead the deliberations of the 31st meeting of the Southern Zonal Council at a seaside resort in Kovalam on the city's outskirts.

The Southern Zonal Council comprises the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Keralam, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, and the Union Territories of Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.

The council serves as an excellent forum for resolving issues and disputes between the Centre and the member States/Union Territories, the Union Government said.

River water sharing disputes between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and Keralam are among the ongoing disputes.

In an official release, the Centre said that the council meetings also discuss broad issues of national importance.