Karnataka `deliberately withholding' water: T.N.

By J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 20. The Tamil Nadu Government in its suit filed in the Supreme Court has accused Karnataka of deliberately and wilfully defying the interim orders of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal though it was duty-bound to give effect to the orders every year.

In its suit filed on Wednesday, Tamil Nadu submitted that it was constrained to move the apex court as despite various requests made for urgent release of water in compliance of the interim order, Karnataka had failed to release any water.

The suit said that with a combined storage of 91.97 tmcft. (thousand million cubic feet) as on September 18 as against its gross capacity of 114.5 tmcft., Karnataka was unjustified in holding the water to meet its summer irrigation requirements from January 2002 while the standing crops in 2.65 acres in Tamil Nadu were withering for want of irrigation supplies.

The suit stated that the storage at the Mettur reservoir was only 8.36 tmcft. as against the capacity of 93.5 tmcft. The release of Cauvery waters was being made at the whims of Karnataka inasmuch as only the surplus water flows into the Mettur reservoir. The scheme framed by the Union of India for the implementation of the interim order had failed to ensure and protect the rights of inhabitants of Tamil Nadu.

The Tamil Nadu Government had also cited several instances in the past as to how the meetings of both the Monitoring Committee and the Cauvery River Authority, constituted pursuant to the Supreme Court orders in 1998, had failed to yield any result.

This year also, the Monitoring Committee, which met on September 6, did nothing even though it was informed about the critical situation in Mettur and the need for Karnataka releasing at least one tmcft. a day for the next one or two months.

Similarly, the State was reasonably apprehensive about the meeting of the Authority convened by the Prime Minister at the instance of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister being held on September 22. It was also apprehensive whether any decision would be taken on that day to release water and whether Karnataka would give effect to such a decision, even if the meeting took place.

The suit stated that Karnataka, despite having almost full storage in its major reservoirs, had repeatedly refused to fulfil its obligation to release waters in terms of the interim award.

It was contended that Cauvery was an inter-State river and Tamil Nadu had as much right to the use of its water as Karnataka. Just because Karnataka was an upper riparian State, it had no exclusive right to impound the water flowing through its territory as it pleased.

Karnataka had no right to decide unilaterally what pertained to an inter-se right between that State and Tamil Nadu, nor could it constitute itself as a Judge in its own cause. Also it was not open to Karnataka to decide on its own whether a particular agricultural year was a year of distress for lack of adequate rain.

The Tamil Nadu Government stated that the present storage position was barely sufficient to meet the requirement for the next five days. Karnataka without prejudicing the interests of its farmers could at least release one tmcft. of water daily upto the end of October, the suit said and sought an interim direction to this effect. In addition, Karnataka was also required to make good the shortfall incurred during the current irrigation year.

The suit, among other things, sought a declaration that Karnataka was under the Constitutional and legal duty to obey, implement and give full effect to the interim orders of the Tribunal dated June 25, 1991 and subsequent related orders dated April 3, 1992 and December 19, 1995.

It also wanted a declaration that the Cauvery River Authority was duty-bound to ensure and give full effect to the interim order and restrain Karnataka from impounding, at its will, the water flowing through its territory stored in all its four major reservoirs to the detriment of the rights of Tamil Nadu.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : National
Previous : Cabinet discusses Musharraf's speech
Next     : Evacuate stranded Hindus, Sikhs from Afghanistan:
           NCM