Karnataka to list reasons at CRA meet

By S.K.Ramoo

BANGALORE, SEPT. 19. Karnataka has decided to explain the reasons for its inability to release the remaining quota of the Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu to save the kuruvai crop, at the meeting of the Cauvery River Authority (CRA) in Delhi on Saturday.

It will present the actual storage levels of the Harangi, the Hemavathy, the K.R. Sagar and the Kabini, the Cauvery reservoirs in the State. According to the State Government, the actual total storage as on September 13 is only 69 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet), compared to 88 tmcft last year. The position is said to be the lowest in the past five years.

It maintains that this critical level of storage is not sufficient to meet even the minimum requirement for irrigation and drinking water. It drew the attention of both the Tamil Nadu and Union Governments to the fact that in addition to the irrigation requirement, the river water is being used to fulfil the drinking water needs of major cities, including Bangalore, Mysore, Hassan and Tumkur.

The present storage level will have to be evaluated keeping these two major requirements in view. The standing crops in the command area (seven lakh acres) of the four major reservoirs include 4,31,000 acres of paddy, 65,000 acres of sugarcane, 1,97,000 acres of semi-dry crops and 16,000 acres of grapes. Sugarcane and grapes require water till May next. Karnataka is facing an unprecedented drought owing to the erratic South-West monsoon.

The State's assessment is that of the 175 taluks, 151 have been affected by a prolonged dry spell. Interestingly, in the Cauvery basin, 42 of the 48 taluks are experiencing severe parched conditions. The loss on account of failure of crops is about Rs. 1,500 crores.

Karnataka has maintained that it released 67 tmcft of the Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu till September 12. It has said that the total availability in the Mettur reservoir is 131 tmcft against the stipulated flow of 121 tmcft.

Significantly, it contends that the total availability in the Mettur reservoir would have been adequate had not Tamil Nadu ``unilaterally'' increased paddy sowing area under the kuruvai crop.

At the time of the Cauvery Tribunal's interim award in 1991, the kuruvai crop was being grown only on 1.27 lakh acres.

The area had now increased to 3.2 lakh acres. This was admitted by Tamil Nadu before the Monitoring Committee.

Karnataka has argued that the steep increase in sown area under kuruvai, which solely depends on irrigation water, has put a tremendous pressure on the Mettur reservoir and Karnataka. According to Karnataka, Tamil Nadu has ample groundwater reserves in the Cauvery delta serving as an additional source.

The extent of sown area that depends on the Mettur reservoir is about 15 lakh acres and most of it is paddy. Karnataka has contended that kuruvai crop was not in a ``state of distress'' as the Government's procurement operation started on September 15, according to a statement made by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Ms. Jayalalithaa, in the Legislative Assembly.

The Karnataka Water Resources Minister, Mr. H.K.Patil, has said that the revival of the monsoon over Tamil Nadu has led to an increase in inflows into the Mettur reservoir. It is of the order of one tmcft a day during the last couple of days, he said and added that the delta region of Tamil Nadu is likely to receive more rainfall in the coming days.

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