Southern Zonal Council: Amit Shah Pushes Faster Resolution Of Water Disputes, Cites South's Role In India’s Growth

Chennai: Union Home Minister and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Thursday called for faster resolution of long-pending water disputes among southern States, while urging the States to work through dialogue and constructive solutions on issues affecting the region.

Addressing the 31st meeting of the Southern Zonal Council in Mamallapuram, Shah described South India as a major pillar of the country’s development, citing its contributions to literature, research and development, space, IT, artificial intelligence, industry, agriculture, automobiles, pharmaceuticals and infrastructure.

He said the region’s development had been built on three pillars — high literacy, trained manpower and technical expertise in utilising the deep seas. He also said the country could learn from southern States’ traditions of innovation and revenue generation.

Shah said the Zonal Councils had been transformed since 2014 from what he described as largely formal mechanisms into meaningful platforms for resolving inter-State issues. According to him, while the Councils met an average of two-and-a-half times a year during 2004-2014, they were now meeting six times annually.

He said 70 Zonal Council meetings had been held since 2014, during which 1,445 of 1,869 issues — around 80% — had been resolved. Some issues, he said, had remained pending for six decades.

Water emerged as a central theme of the meeting. Shah said the progress of southern States depended heavily on water, with agriculture, industry, public health and the environment all linked to the availability of the resource.

He said protecting the interests of individual States was legitimate, but questioned situations in which States remained deprived of water for years while water ultimately flowed into the sea. He advocated linking major rivers, from the Brahmaputra to the Cauvery and Godavari, saying such an initiative could help India avoid water shortages for the next 100 years and create waterways that could reduce fuel consumption and support cheaper transportation.

He called for pending water-related issues in the southern region to be addressed expeditiously through joint meetings involving the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, Ministry of Home Affairs, the Inter-State Council and the concerned States. The southern States, according to the release, agreed to pursue the disputes through mutual dialogue and constructive solutions.

On the division of assets and liabilities between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, both States agreed to resolve the outstanding matters in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Shah also flagged the need for speedy investigation and trial of rape and POCSO cases through Fast Track Special Courts, calling for Chief Ministers to treat the issue with sensitivity. He said the new criminal laws provided tools to accelerate the criminal justice process.

Education and child welfare were another focus. Shah said the national school dropout ratio was currently 9.5 and called for efforts to bring it below 3%. He also highlighted malnutrition and stunting as serious concerns that could affect the capabilities of future generations.

He said Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh had initiated the fight against malnutrition, which was subsequently adopted across the country.

The Minister also called for a coordinated effort against drugs, referring to a three-year roadmap prepared by the Ministry of Home Affairs in which responsibilities had been assigned to various Central and State departments.

The meeting was attended by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, Keralam Chief Minister V D Satheesan, Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, among others.