CHENNAI: Union home minister Amit Shah will chair the two-day South Zone Chief Ministers’ Conference to be held at a private hotel in Mamallapuram starting Thursday.Karnataka chief minister D K Shivakumar, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy, Kerala CM V D Satheesan, Puducherry CM N Rangasamy and Tamil Nadu CM C Joseph Vijay will attend the conference.Issues related to the southern states will be taken up for discussion. The conference aims at ironing out differences among the states and finding amicable solutions to inter-state issues for collective growth across various spheres.The conference gains significance due to the decades-old Cauvery water and Mekedatu row, as the Karnataka govt is aggressively pushing to build a reservoir across the Cauvery at Mekedatu while failing to comply with Supreme Court orders to release Tamil Nadu’s due share of water. This has had an impact on the delta region, badly affecting paddy cultivation and prompting farmers’ associations to resort to protests.The issue has also gained political importance as opposition parties put the ruling TVK in a tight spot by demanding an all-party meeting over the Cauvery issue. The ruling party passed a resolution in the ongoing assembly session against the Karnataka government’s efforts to construct the Mekedatu dam.
