In the 31st meeting of the South Regional Council held under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, many important issues related to the development and mutual cooperation of the southern states of the country were discussed in detail. In this meeting, emphasis was mainly laid on early resolution of inter-state water disputes through mutual dialogue, on which all the states have shown positive attitude.
Emphasis on early resolution of water disputes
Addressing the meeting, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that states have every right to protect their interests, but if water cannot be used for a long time due to water disputes and it flows into the sea, then it does not serve anyone’s real interest. He suggested working towards interlinking of major rivers from Brahmaputra to Kaveri and Godavari, so that the country can be saved from water shortage in the coming decades.
Along with this, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu proposed a bullet train corridor connecting Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to further boost regional connectivity.
Southern states’ concerns over delimitation of Lok Sabha seats
During this high-level meeting, the issue of possible redistribution of Lok Sabha seats on the basis of population was also raised prominently. Southern states believe that if seats are determined on the basis of population, they may suffer huge losses in political representation.
In this regard, the representatives of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu demanded that the current number of 543 seats in the Lok Sabha should be kept safe for the next 25 years. Apart from this, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivkumar appealed to the Central Government that the 1971 census should be made the main basis for delimitation.
Other important proposals put forward by various states
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Kerala: Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan raised the issue of Mullaperiyar Dam during the meeting and stressed on strengthening cooperative federalism in the fields of health, environment protection and regional security.
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Telangana: Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka raised the demand to protect his state’s rights over Krishna river water and sought support from the Center for major irrigation projects.
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Puducherry: Puducherry was asked to develop an integrated surface water system and work with neighboring states to ensure year-round water availability.