Addressing mediapersons at Satyamurthy Bhavan, TMC general secretary S Peter Alphonse, MP, said that unless such a committee was constituted, it would be difficult to find a lasting solution to the vexatious and recurring problem of paucity of water in the canals that depended on outflow from Mettur dam.

Besides being unconstitutional, the Karnataka Government's position on sharing Cauvery water with Tamil Nadu was unprecedented, creating a bad trend in inter-State relations. The Prime Minister and CM M Karunanidhi must accept responsibility for the crisis and take immediate steps to get water released from Karnataka, Alphonse said. In a veiled attack on the Dravidar Kazhagam-led Opposition parties that had drawn up a programme to launch a State-wide agitation on September 28,the TMC leader said such an agitational approach was aimed at making political gains in the immediate context. The agitation might even induce some chauvinists in Karnataka to mobilise forces hostile to TN, he said. Alphonse also said the continued attack on minorities in Bihar and other States indicated that the forces of religious fundamentalism were gathering in strength and growing in the country.