Common Order: (M. Karpagavinayagam, J.)

The Great Saint Thiruvalluvar says:

Irupunalum vaynta malaiyum varupunalum

Vallaranum nattirku uruppu." (Tirukkural-737)

2. Meaning of the above couplet is:

"The waters on the surface of the land and the rains that fall from the sky, as well as the mountains, rivers and forts make the country prosperous."

3. The expression ',Ug[dy;;' indicates two sources of water i.e., the surface water and the rain water. The word 'tUg[dy;' means, water which comes through rivers.

4. We, in Tamil Nadu, have problems on ',Ug[dy;', namely, surface water and rain water, as well as on 'tUg[dy;', in the sense that we do not have adequate rainfall, nor do we get adequate and even the tribunal approved water from the Cauvery River.

5. So, in this context, we are constrained to give a different meaning of ',Ug[dy;' as instead of surface water and rain water, it could be meant as surface water and sub-soil water, which is very relevant to today's conditions of water scarcity, particularly in Tamil Nadu.

6. On account of scarcity of water due to problems on surface water and river water, actually, the State is now trying to implement the New Veeranam Extension