Chennai: Tamil Nadu delta farmers on Thursday demanded that the state government convene a special session of the Assembly and pass a resolution to pressure the Centre to set up a Cauvery management board.

The demand was made at a meeting of farmers’ associations, and the Congress, the CPI and the CPM, in a meeting convened by the DMK in Chennai today. The meeting discussed the loss of kuruvai crop in the last five years. It also discussed the possibility of the loss of samba cultivation this year, as Karnataka was not ready to release enough water to the state.

“The state government must convene a special session of the Assembly and pass a resolution to pressure the Centre on setting up the Cauvery management board. Before the special session, the government must come forward and convene an all-party meeting,” said a statement, released by the DMK.

The meeting passed two further resolutions. One condemned the Centre’s refusal to constitute the Cauvery board and accused the Centre of playing politics on the issue. It wanted the Centre to play its role as stated in the Inter-State Water Disputes Act 1956.

The third resolution passed in the meeting authorised DMK treasurer MK Stalin to act on the issue after the case is heard by the Supreme Court on October 18.