Thanjavur: Union Minister of State for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, Pon. Radhakrishnan said that the centre’s efforts to resolve the Cauvery issue will bear fruits only when the governments of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka maintain a cordial relation.

Addressing the media persons in Thanjavur today, Radhakrishnan said that Tamil Nadu’s water problem can be resolved in two ways – by getting their legitimate share of 105 tmc ft water from Karnataka, and by storing the rain water flowing into the sea.

The union minister also claimed that it was only after Narendra Modi had assumed office as prime minister that solutions to several vexatious issues were found. “The storage of Mullai Periyar dam has been raised to 142 feet from 136 feet. The committee constituted by central government is keen on executing it. The central government has not permitted the construction of a dam across the Mullai Periyar river,” the union minister said.

Taking a dig at the leaders who oppose the learning of Hindi, the union minister said, “Those leaders who oppose learning of Hindi made their family members learn Hindi. They also cited it as a qualification to get a ministerial berth for their family members in the central government.”

Radhakrishnan also advised the youngsters to learn as many languages as they wanted to. “I did not say Hindi and Sanskrit. Let them learn as many languages as they can,” he said.