Cauvery is a 'life' issue, will not allow Mekedatu at any cost, says TN Minister Duraimurugan
Chennai (PTI): The Cauvery water sharing is not some ordinary matter but a 'life' issue and Tamil Nadu will not allow the construction of a dam across the inter-state river at Mekedatu by Karnataka, state minister Duraimurugan said here on Thursday.
He was speaking to reporters early today upon his arrival from New Delhi after meeting Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Shekhawat over the Cauvery issue. TN has flagged the lower realisation from the inter-state river with the Centre.
The Tamil Nadu Water Resources Minister pointed out at his state receiving lesser quantum of water from the Cauvery river as of July 3 and said if the situation continues the short-term 'kuruvai crops' in the delta districts may be affected.
To protect the crops in the Cauvery Delta districts in the state, Karnataka has to release water from the river and for this purpose, the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) "has to hold talks with Karnataka or order it to do so," he said, adding this request was conveyed to Shekhawat.
Duraimurugan said the union minister asked officials to take steps to immediately convene the CWMA.
"This (Cauvery) is not an ordinary issue, it is a life issue and I have clearly told this to the (central) minister," he said.
Further, the Karnataka government was also duty-bound to adhere to the Supreme Court verdict on water-sharing.
To a question on Karnataka's proposal for constructing a balancing reservoir across Cauvery at Mekedatu, he said "even if they hold talks, or write to us, Tamil Nadu will never give consent for the construction of the dam."
On TN BJP chief K Annamalai's statement that his party will stage "Go back Stalin," protest against the state Chief Minister if he attends the opposition parties' meet at Bengaluru later this month in the backdrop of the ongoing Cauvery dispute, Duraimurugan, said, "that is their wish."
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Odisha: Medical College expels 5 MBBS students from hostel for ragging juniors
Berhampur (Odisha), Nov 2: Five MBBS fourth-year students of government-run MKCG Medical College here were expelled from the hostel for allegedly ragging juniors, an official said on Saturday.
Earlier the five students have been rusticated from the campus for six months. The punishment was imposed as per the decision of the anti-ragging committee meeting held on Wednesday, the official said.
"The anti-ragging committee has taken such a hard decision to arrest further occurrence of ragging incidents in the medical college campus," said SP (Berhampur) Sarvan Vivek M, who is one of the members of the anti-ragging committee of the college.
Suchitra Dash, in-charge Dean of the college, however, declined to comment on the development.
The SP said they were also investigating separately against these students based on the FIR lodged. The statement of the students have been recorded by the police on Friday, he said.
While one second-year MBBS student has given a written complaint to the college authorities alleging ragging by senior students, three other complaints of ragging were lodged by parents of the students with the National Medical Council (NMC).
The NMC had directed the college authorities to inquire into the allegations and take action against the students.
After receiving the complaints from the NMC, the anti-ragging committee of the medical college inquired into the matter.
In February this year, the medical college authorities had suspended two fourth-year MBBS students for two months for ragging a second-year student.
