Karunanidhi lays foundation for a barrage across the Cauvery at Kattalai "We continue to suffer and have to struggle, fight legal battles or plead with the Centre to get our share of water.' PRESSING THE BUTTON: Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi laying the foundation stone for the flood prevention and Mayanur bed regulator in Tiruchi on Tuesday. (From left) Transport Minister K.N. Nehru, Law and PWD Minister Durai Murugan are in the picture. TIRUCHI: Through the construction of a barrage across the Cauvery at Mayanur, Tamil Nadu has become the first State to move towards linking intra-State rivers, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said on Tuesday. "We have embarked on this project for the first time in the country. We have long been insisting on linking national rivers, and the United Progressive Alliance government, in its common minimum programme, had agreed to assess the feasibility. At recent meetings of the National Development Council , I had pleaded for linking peninsular rivers and Central funding for linking intra-State rivers,' he said laying the foundation for construction of a barrage across the Cauvery at Kattalai near Mayanur here. Union Minister for Water Resources Saifuddin Soz, in a letter to the State government on February 22, 2008, said projects on linking intra-State rivers would be funded under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme. "In anticipation of the Central assistance, we have sanctioned Rs.165 crore for the barrage construction,' Mr. Karunanidhi said. Canal to Ramnad The barrage would create storage of 1.04 tmcft and harness the excess water whenever the river was in spate, taking the surplus flow up to Ramanathapuram district through a canal that will link the Cauvery with the Agniyar, the Koraiyar, the Vaigai and the Gundar. Elaborating on the struggle faced by Tamil Nadu to meet its water requirements in the absence of perennial rivers, Mr. Karunanidhi said the State had to constantly look up to its neighbours for getting water in rivers flowing from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. "Issue as old as myself' The Cauvery imbroglio was as old as himself, but a final solution continued to elude the State. Though a verdict was obtained from the Cauvery Disputes Tribunal, which seemed to be slightly favourable to the State, Karnataka was refusing to implement it. "We continue to suffer and have to struggle, fight legal battles or plead with the Centre to get our share of water.' The Chief Minister said the DMK government was executing such major projects even while sharing the people's burden caused by the price rise. The Centre, too, had supported the State. The Central University at Tiruvarur would come up this year. Many other projects, including the Sethusamudram project, were coming up. He also promised to look into the demand for fixing the minimum support price for banana. Public Works Department Minister Durai Murugan said Rs.750 crore worth of the works would go on stream, including the Rs.253-crore flood prevention scheme to strengthen the bunds of the Cauvery, the Coleroon and other rivers. Irrigation channels in the Cauvery delta would be modernized soon with World Bank assistance. Other projects The Chief Minister laid the foundation for projects worth Rs.801.26 crore, declared open others worth Rs.158.80 crore and distributed welfare aid worth Rs.6.70 crore to 12,206 beneficiaries. The underground drainage scheme in Tiruchi and the expanded Central Bus Stand were among the projects commissioned. Union Minister for Communication and Information Technology A. Raja; State Ministers Arcot Veerasamy, K.N. Nehru and N. Selvaraj; Mayor Sarubala R. Tondaiman; MPs L. Ganesan, N. Siva and K.C. Palanisamy; PWD Secretary N.S. Palaniappan; and Collector Soundiah spoke.