Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging the speedy implementation of the Godavari - Cauvery - Gundaru interlinking project.
The letter written by Chief Minister Vijay in this regard states:
The state of Tamil Nadu is naturally deficient in surface water resources and depends on neighboring states for more than 30 percent of its water needs.
Despite continuous regulatory and conservation measures taken by the state government, groundwater resources have also been used to such an extent that they have reached a worrying stage, and over-extraction continues in many areas.
The Godavari-Cauvery-Gundaru interlinking project is regarded as the most important long-term opportunity to augment Tamil Nadu’s surface water resources, and this project is highly significant in meeting the growing drinking water and irrigation needs of the people of Tamil Nadu.
In Tamil Nadu, especially the southern districts of Pudukkottai, Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram, and Virudhunagar, continue to remain highly vulnerable due to severe water scarcity and drought.
It is necessary to implement the Godavari - Cauvery - Vaigai - Gundaru interlinking project as the best permanent solution to meet the increasing water demands in these districts, and this project would make it possible to divert surplus floodwaters to water-scarce areas.
The alignment route in the detailed project report prepared at present ends a few kilometers before the Cauvery River, so instead, the nationally important Godavari – Cauvery – Gundaru river interlinking project should be taken up on a priority basis.
Implementing this project quickly will greatly benefit the people and farmers of Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka.
The following directions should be issued to the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the National Water Development Agency
Expedite consultations with the concerned beneficiary states and reach an early agreement on the pending issues;
Finalize the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for extending this link up to the command barrage across the Cauvery River;
Giving priority to this project and taking steps to implement it in a fast-track manner as a project of national importance.
The letter states that consideration is being given to establishing a special purpose vehicle to implement this project in an integrated manner and within a specified timeframe, and to declare this project a project of national importance.