With just less than 3 days to go (29th March) before the deadline stipulated by the Supreme Court of India to the Centre to set up the Cauvery Management Board, officials of Tamil Nadu Public Works Department and the Cauvery Technical Team are to meet a team of officials of Union Ministry of Water Resources in New Delhi.

Delivering a final verdict on 16th February, the Supreme Court reduced Tamil Nadu's share of Cauvery water marginally but nevertheless directed the Centre to set up a Cauvery Management Board within six weeks.  Tamil farmers and political parties were satisfied that the Board would do the needful to ensure that Tamil Nadu got its fair share of Cauvery water in the years to come.

The BJP-led Centre, however, disappointed them by stating that it would at best set up a supervisory committee to supervise the water-sharing arrangement but won't set up a Cauvery Board.  It also held that the apex Court's verdict, accepted by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, didn't talk about setting up a 'Board' but only said that the water-sharing arrangement ought to be supervised by a 'body'.

Tamil farmers are already protesting in New Delhi demanding setting up the Cauvery Management Board by Thursday (29th March).  It is in this backdrop that Tamil Nadu PWD Secretary Prabhakar and Chief-Engineer of Cauvery Technical Committee Subramanian are to meet officials of the Union Ministry of Water Resources in New Delhi today.