‘Panel decision after state talks’
On the meeting of the Cauvery Monitoring Committee (CMC), which is to meet here on October 11 to decide on the release of water by Karnataka after October 15, Union water resources minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said, “The CMC will decide on the issue in consultation with the states. If it fails, the issue may be referred back to the CRA. Yes, CRA could be convened again in such a scenario.”
But Mr Bansal inserted a caveat stating, “If there is a qualitative change in the situation following the onset of the north-east monsoon in Tamil Nadu, the matter could end there.”
So far, Tamil Nadu has got 1.21 lakh cusecs of water as against 1.44 lakh cusecs between September 20 and October 5, Mr Bansal said. He added that 65 tmc (thousand million cubic feet) of water was available in Karnataka’s main reservoirs apart from 60 tmc of water in the canals.
The apex court in its order said, “We clarify that our September 28, 2012, order shall not in any way be an impediment in the chairperson (Prime Minister) taking a decision on the review petition before it (CRA),” a bench of Justices D.K. Jain and M.B. Lokur said.
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Cong, mamata war of words on aiims again
age correspondent
Kolkata, Oct. 8
A fresh tug of war has started between the Mamata Banerjee government and the Congress a day after Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad ruled out the possibility of shifting the proposed All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) from Raiganj.
Reacting sharply to Mr Azad’s assertion, state panchayat affairs minister Subrata Mukherjee said that it was not possible to set up AIIMS in Raiganj because of difficulty in acquiring land. “On the other hand, there is a large parcel of land readily available in Kalyani,” he added. Mr Mukherjee warned the Centre that it should not play with fire.
Unfazed by the belligerence of the state government, the state Congress leaders are planning to launch a sustained agitation to press for their demand for AIIMS in Raiganj. The state Congress has been emboldened by Mr Azad’s stand and they have also received the green signal from the party high command for the agitation.
Congress MP from Raiganj Deepa Das Munshi is organising an agitation at Panishala in Raiganj on October 11. An extended state executive committee meeting will be held in Kolkata on October 12 where Congress leaders will chalk out their future course of action.
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