Southern States - Karnataka

Cauvery: State won't give in to pressure, says CM

By Our Staff Correspondent

MYSORE June 22. Refusing to attach any importance to Tamil Nadu's decision to boycott the Cauvery Rivery Authority (CRA), the Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, said on Saturday that Karnataka would not buckle under pressure on the Cauvery issue.

Addressing presspersons after inaugurating a hotel here, he said: "Our government cannot be pressured against the basic interests of the farmers of Cauvery Basin in Karnataka." He was asked whether Tamil Nadu was bringing pressure on the Centre to prevail upon Karnataka to release Cauvery water.

He said the Tamil Nadu Cabinet's decision to boycott the proceedings of the CRA did not concern Karnataka.

Mr. Krishna said he had already written to the CRA explaining that there was inadequate rainfall in the catchment areas of the State, and the water level in the reservoirs had come down.

He sought to recall that Karnataka had decided to boycott the proceedings of the Krishna River Water Disputes Tribunal on an earlier occasion, but it changed its stand and appeared before the tribunal. "It happens," he added.

The State Government was concerned about protecting the interests of farmers of the Cauvery Basin in Karnataka, he said, and added that the Government would abide by the interim award of the Cauvery River Water Disputes Tribunal.

Asked about the possibility of implementing a distress formula to tide over the crisis, Mr. Krishna said it could be evolved only if the issue was settled amicably between the riparian states and the Centre.

To a question, he said the State Government had rejected the agreement between the erstwhile Maharajas of Mysore and the erstwhile Madras Presidency on sharing Cauvery waters.

"We are not a successor State. We have already rejected that agreement," he added.

Mr. Krishna wondered how Karnataka could release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu when there was no water in the KRS, Hemavathi, and Kabini reservoirs.

To a question on the Cabinet reshuffle, Mr. Krishna said the issue of a reshuffle was "neither moving forward nor backward".

Asked whether the Government had emerged stronger after the Congress's triumph in the recent byelection from the Narasimharaja Assembly constituency in Mysore, where late Azeez Sait's son emerged victorious, Mr. Krishna said the party's victory would help the Government take up more programmes for the people's welfare.

Mr. Krishna was accompanied by the Home Minister, Mallikarjun Kharge, the Minister in charge of Mysore District, H. Vishwanath, the Transport Minister, Sageer Ahmed, the Minister of State for Information, M. Shivanna, and the MP, Ambarish.

The Chief Minister participated in a programme at Avadootha Datta Peetha on the outskirts of Mysore city, where the 60th birthday celebrations of Sri Ganapathi Sachchidananda Swamiji were held.

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