Cauvery issue

Sir, - Your Editorial `An intractable issue' (May 20) has succinctly brought out the reasons for the postponement of the Cauvery River Authority (CRA) meeting scheduled for May 19. Though the postponement of the meeting may not cause undue worry for the lower riparian ryots because of the comfortable storage in Mettur Dam this year, it should not mean that the issue may be kept in cold storage. The long awaited (9 years) settlement between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu is thus unnecessarily delayed.

The ideal time for pursuing the issue is undoubtedly when the monsoon has been good in both the States without any sort of political and administrative pressures that are associated with water scarcity for irrigation.

Furthermore, the Chief Minister of Karnataka questioning the very need for convening the CRA now when Tamil Nadu has received more than 205 tmcft during the year 1999-2000 does not sound reasonable; simply because Karnataka couldn't withhold last September floods, they opened K.R. Sagar when 1 lakh cusecs of water rather drained to Mettur.

As has been rightly pointed out, Tamil Nadu has been naturally anxious to get assured supplies of water within a timeframe of monthly quota from April to March (205 tmcft) that suits its cropping patterns, Kuruvai and Thaladi planted by the second week of June and November when water is most needed.

G. Kanakasabai,

Lalgudi (TN)

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