• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Our Bureau

The Chief Minister, Mr S.M. Krishna, at a meeting with Karnataka MPs to discuss Cauvery water and other issues in Bangalore on Tuesday. The Union Minister for Public Distribution, Mr V. Sreenivasa Prasad, the Karnataka Major and Medium Irrigation Minister, Mr H.K. Patil, and the Revenue Minister, Mr H.C. Srikantaiah, are also seen.

BANGALORE, Sept. 24

AN 11-member joint team of the Centre and three riparian States met here briefly in Tamil Nadu's absence and began a survey of five reservoirs in the two States.

The Cauvery River Monitoring Committee, which is on a fact-finding mission for the Prime Minister conducted aerial and field surveys of the Krishna Raja Sagar and nearby areas and returned to Bangalore this evening.

Tomorrow, it is scheduled to visit Mettur. But the visit is now uncertain in view of the boycott by Tamil Nadu, which has opposed the exercise saying the matter is sub-judice. Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary, Mr Sukavaneshvar, did not attend the meet.

The other three reservoirs in Karnataka — Kabini, Hemavati and Harangi— are to be surveyed on Thursday.

The team will submit its report in three days, its leader and Union Secretary for Water Resources, Mr A.K. Goswami, told newspersons prior to its departure. The Supreme Court has sought the Centre's report on the situation in the Cauvery-sharing States by September 27.

The CRMC team comprises Mr Suresh Chandra, Chairman, Central Water Commission; Mr R.K. Sharma, Member-Secretary, CWD; Dr B.R. Sharma, ICAR Additional Director-General (Water Management); Dr D.N. Singh, Additional Commissioner, Union Ministry of Agriculture; Mr M.K. Sharma, Commissioner (Projects), Ministry of Water Resources; Mr T.T. Joseph, Chief Secretary, Pondicherry; Ms Asha Thomas, Special Secretary (Irrigation), Kerala; Mr Sasi, Chief Engineer (Irrigation), Kerala; the Karnataka Chief Secretary, Dr A. Ravindra; and the Irrigation Secretary, Mr S.J. Channabasappa.

Meanwhile, the emergency session of both Houses of Karnataka Legislature today decided to defer the debate on the contentious Cauvery river water issue and the serious drought situation to a later date and adjourned sine die.

In the wake of a consensus that emerged at the joint Business Advisory Committee meeting, it was decided against discussing the Cauvery problem as the matter was before the Supreme Court.

The meeting decided that the Government would convene the Legislature session during the first week of October to debate the Cauvery issue, acute drought conditions, kidnapping of JD (U) leader Mr Nagappa and hardships faced by families of those displaced by the Alamatti dam project, the presiding officers of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly, Mr B.L. Shankar, and Mr M.V. Venkatappa, respectivley, announced in the House.

Mr Venkatappa said in the backdrop of the Cauvery case coming up before the Supreme Court on September 30 and the ongoing visit by the Cauvery River Monitoring Committee in the State, the actual data on water availability remained unavailable for discussion.

It would not be possible to discuss the Cauvery issue extensively without relevent statistics and also the drought situation, he said.

Making a similar statement, Mr Shankar, said at this hour of crisis, there was a need for all the political parties to help the Government in overcoming it.

It might be recalled that the Supreme Court has served contempt notices on the Chief Minister, the Chief Secretary and two officials for non-compliance with its directive.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail
Comment on this article to BLFeedback@thehindu.co.in

Stories in this Section
Export, production ban on 5 seafood units

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line