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Cauvery row: Karnataka, Tamil Nadu
agree on distress formula

Prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Sunday directed Karnataka to release 9000 cusecs (0.8 Thousand Million Cubic feet) of water to Tamil Nadu in view of the critical position in the state, Union Water Resources Minister Arjun Charan Sethi said.

This quantity of water specified would be on a weekly average basis and this formula would be valid for two months (September, October), he said.

Tamil Nadu, on its part, would ensure proportionate release of water to Pondicherry, he added.

Briefing reporters after the emergency meeting of the Cauvery River Authority of which Vajpayee is the chairman, Sethi said the prime minister had impressed on Karnataka that the situation in the basin states - Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Kerala - was critical.

When asked to clarify, he assured mediapersons that Tamil Nadu had given its consent to the decision at the meeting. "There was near consensus on the outcome," Sethi said.

However, Tamil Nadu did point out that the water released to it from Karnataka was not sufficient, he said.

Apart from Vajpayee, the chief ministers of Karnataka (S M Krishna), Kerala (A K Antony) and Pondicherry (N Rangaswamy) were present at the meeting.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was represented by the state's Finance Minister Ponnaiyan.

Cauvery Water Dispute: The Complete Coverage

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