NEW DELHI - The Supreme Court order to the Centre to constitute Cauvery Water Management Board to take decisions on Cauvery water usage and distribution in the next four weeks is expected to complicate the already vexed dispute further.
The Tamil Nadu had always been demanding that the Centre should set up the board to manage the water of Cauvery water and Karnataka had been opposing it tooth and nail for a long time.
The SC decision is being seen as a huge setback to Karnataka government which is already facing the ire of farmers over release of water in the Cauvery basin.
The Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa had demanded the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to set up the board during her last visit to New Delhi. But the Centre avoided the controversy by keeping quiet over her demands.
According to rules the Centre will appoint the chairman and all the members of the management board. All four Cauvery riparian states – Karnataka, TN, Kerala and Puducherry will also have their representatives.
Once the management board is set up all four Cauvery reservoirs in Karnataka will come under the control of the board and the state will lose its rights over the management of water.
Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah had opposed it saying that it would be against the federal system and the state would not tolerate the Centre managing Karnataka dams.
Speaking to News18 veteran leader of the Cauvery basin farmers G Made Gowda said that the SC decision was a death warrant for Karnataka and the state must oppose it.
He said "this management board can be a puppet in the hands of the Centre. There is no guarantee that it will protect the interests of people of Cauvery basin including state capital Bengaluru. The consequences of agreeing to such a board would be disastrous".
Siddaramaiah who is already under intense pressure to oppose the SC decision and not to release water to TN will find it very difficult to handle the fresh crisis says well known irrigation expert Professor C Narasimhappa.
Reacting to the SC order he said "it is actually a surrender. Karnataka will have no say. Outsiders decide everything. If the management board is impartial, then there would be no problems. If the Centre wants to use the management board to settle scores with Karnataka, then it can lead to huge problems and riots during distress years".
He added that all four dams in Cauvery basin – KRS, Hemavathi, Harangi and Kabini would come under the jurisdiction of the board. “How can we tolerate such thing?” he said.
Stunned by the SC order Siddaramaiah has called an emergency meeting of his Cabinet to decide future course of action on Wednesday.
If he agrees to release 6000 cusecs of water to TN till next week, dams may reach dead water level by December – January itself say irrigation experts. The opposition JDS has advised him to step down and face contempt of the court case.
Former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy said "if Siddaramaiah is ready to go to jail expressing his inability to release more water to TN, I will also go with him. Under no circumstances Karnataka can accept these things. I have also asked him to convene an emergency session of the state legislature. I request all political parties in Karnataka including Congress and JDS to boycott elections after dissolving the assembly."
The SC decision has hit us hard by ordering the setting up management board. “It is a death blow to the farmers of Karnataka.
The Centre has give us poison. It has shaken our belief in the federal system. Cauvery dams are our dams. We have built it with our money, blood and sweat. Who is the Centre to control these dams?”he said.
On Monday, the Cauvery Monitoring Committee (CMC) had ordered Karnataka to release 3000 cusecs of water till September end. Both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu had opposed it in the SC. The SC increased it to 6000 cusecs on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day there was a war of words between TN and Karnataka lawyers in the courtroom. Appearing for the Karnataka government senior advocates Fali S Nariman and Harish Salve told the SC that it will have to part with drinking water of the state, if it is forced to release water to TN for irrigation.
Karnataka water resources minister M B Patil said that the state was not in a position to release the water and the outflow continues like this Cauvery basin in Karnataka could become another Latur, the worst drought hit district in Maharashtra.
Anticipating trouble Karnataka police have made elaborate security arrangements across the Cauvery basin districts including state capital Bengaluru. Two weeks ago the SC had ordered Karnataka to release 15000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu till September 20. It led to wide spread violence in both the states killing two and damaging properties worth several crores.
________________________________________
Comments
0 comment