Ryots throw their lot with Govt.

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, SEPT. 19. Thanjavur delta farmers have decided to throw their lot with the Jayalalithaa Government and implead themselves in the case that the State plans to file in the Supreme court.

Till last week, the farmers were hoping that the Karnataka Government would ``see reason'' and release at least 10 tmcft of water to help them save the standing crops. They were even informally in touch with Bangalore to see if the inter-State hitch could be removed at the farmers' level.

Unfortunately for them, it did not work. The Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr. S.M. Krishna, led an all-party delegation to Delhi and told the Prime Minister that his State was facing a drought and had no water to spare.

As if to answer their prayers, two days of rain in the upper reaches of the Cauvery above the Mettur Dam and also in the delta districts, provided some oxygen to the crops. But the farmers desperately want at least 10 tmcft of water now to see the critical period through.

Under these circumstances, they are hoping that the Cauvery River Water Authority would come to their rescue and that the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, would defuse the situation by prevailing upon Karnataka to release some water to help Tamil Nadu tide over the crisis.

In the absence of any positive signal from Bangalore, the farmers, who met at Tiruvarur today, decided to throw their weight behind the State Government and approach the Supreme court for a solution to the ``persisting problem'' of implementing the tribunal's award. They have pointed out that there was a deficit of over 60 tmcft in the prescribed release of water by Karnataka under the interim award of the Cauvery tribunal. Hopes that Congress leaders and MPs from Tamil Nadu would prevail on their leader, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, to talk to Mr. Krishna and secure the release of water have also been belied. Ms. Gandhi apparently left it to the Karnataka Chief Minister to take a decision keeping the State's water storage in mind.

According to Congress sources, ``The feedback from Bangalore is disappointing. The Government there feels that Tamil Nadu has not dealt with this sensitive issue deftly. Instead of writing letters and making it very formal, the Government here must have taken it up personally and explained the correct position.'' Ultimately, it has turned out to be `politics' once again and the farmers are paying the price. They still feel that Karnataka has ``enough water to spare'' and the monsoon has not come to an end.

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Section  : Southern States
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