The unanimous decision to file a petition under Section 5(3) of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956, before the Tribunal was taken at an all-party meeting convened by the state government and presided over by Chief Minister M Karunanidhi held at the state Secretariat this morning.

Representatives of the MDMK, an AIADMK ally, staged a walk-out after presenting their views, protesting the presence of the rebel group, led by L Ganesan, the party’s former presidium chairman at the meeting. MDMK’s Vaiko did not attend the meeting but had sent representatives.

A resolution adopted at the meeting said that representatives of political parties extensively discussed the “favourable and unfavourable aspects” of the Tribunal’s final award and decided to seek some clarification. The necessary steps to be taken to implement the order would be listed and the views of legal experts and engineers would be obtained.

Based on the advice from experts, the petition would be filed before the Tribunal to ensure that the state’s interests were protected, the resolution said. In its February 5 order, the Tribunal had apportioned 419 tmc ft water in the Cauvery Basin to TN, 270 tmc ft to Karnataka, 30 tmc ft to Kerala and 7 tmc ft to the Union Territory of Puducherry.

Karunanidhi, who had initially expressed “satisfaction”, later expressed “relief” over the award. But meeting was convened after PMK leader S Ramadoss took a strong stand that all political parties should be consulted.