Rao Agrees To Provide Drinking Water To Tamil Nadu

Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao agreed in principle to supply drinking water to Tamil Nadu in consultation with Andhra Pradesh YS Jaganmohan Reddy from a perennial and assured source.

KCR suggested the delegation to send a formal request proposal from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister to him and also to his Andhra Pradesh counterpart.

Rao suggested that soon after receiving the proposal, there should be a meeting between three states at the level of officers and experts to prepare a report based on the discussions to proceed further.

"Let the officers come to a consensus for taking a final decision. As and when this materializes, let India learn through this as to how states can cooperate," said KCR.

The delegation from Tamil Nadu consists of Ministers SP Velumani and D Jayakumar and officials.

KCR said that for the drinking water needs of any state, the neighboring states should be benevolent. He said that the whole country should feel ashamed for the suffering of Tamil Nadu on the drinking waterfront.

He told the delegation that out of the 70,000 TMC of water available in India, after meeting the irrigation needs of the entire country, there would still be a surplus of 30,000 TMC of water. Out of this just 10,000 TMC of water, if properly put to use, will be enough to take care of the drinking water needs of the entire country.

Rao spoke to Jagan over the phone about the Tamil Nadu delegation's request. He told his AP counterpart that since the suffering of Tamil Nadu is a known fact, they can extend cooperation to the state.

The announcement came a day after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami said that a meeting of the Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana will be held in Chennai in connection with the linking of inter-state rivers Godavari and Cauvery.

"The Chief Ministers of three states would deliberate on realizing the river linking project and then submit a report to the Central government," Palaniswami said.