Thursday, Sep 05, 2002
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By A. Jayaram
(Karnataka tonight ordered the release of 12,000 cusecs of water, which amounts to 1.2 tmcft. to Tamil Nadu. Reliable sources in the Irrigation Department told The Hindu in Mysore that water would be released from the Kabini Reservoir in H.D. Kote taluk near here. The crest gates of the Kabini Dam were opened around 11.15 p.m. tonight to facilitate the flow of water to the Mettur Dam in Tamil Nadu.) The decision, conveyed to the press by the Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, this evening was ambiguous as it was silent on whether the State had started releasing the quantum of water stipulated by the Supreme Court. The decision was arrived at after a prolonged meeting between the Government and the leaders of Opposition parties followed by a meeting of the State Cabinet. Karnataka, which apparently views the Supreme Court directive as a setback, has decided to appeal to the Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, to convene an urgent meeting of the CRA in his capacity as its chairman. Mr. Krishna refused to answer questions from journalists after releasing the statement. So also the Minister for Water Resources, H.K. Patil, and others. When it was pointed out that the statement was in Kannada and was not explicit, Mr. Krishna shot back saying Kannada was the State language. Even the Opposition leaders who attended the meeting were tightlipped and said the Government would convey the decision after the Cabinet meeting. During the course of the day, the Chief Minister is stated to have spoken to the Prime Minister.
Stray incidents in Mandya
The statement was notable for the passage appealing to the people to remain calm as reports of stray incidents of violence and protests were received from the Chief Minister's home district of Mandya which is irrigated by the Cauvery and also known for its volatile feelings over sharing the river water with Tamil Nadu. It is stated that the Government denied the report in a section of the press that the State's counsel, F.S. Nariman, had told the court that Karnataka could release one tmcft of water daily to Tamil Nadu. The text of the statement released in Kannada is: "An all-party meeting held today considered the pros and cons of the Supreme Court directive issued on Tuesday and the nuances contained in the same. Besides the opinion of the political leaders, that of legal and technical experts was obtained. The State Cabinet met later and endorsed the decision taken at the all-party meeting.... We will honour the directive of the Supreme Court. At the present juncture, the main concern of the State is to protect the interests of the farmers especially those in the Cauvery basin. Under no circumstances will we sacrifice the interests of our farmers... We will take steps to persuade the Honourable Prime Minister to convene a meeting of the Cauvery River Authority urgently to resolve the dispute taking into consideration the long and short term concerns of the farmers of the State and the present storage position in the four Cauvery basin reservoirs...We appeal for maintenance of peace and harmony''. In a separate development, the president of the State BJP, Basavaraj Patil Sedam, alleged that the Supreme Court's order was the result of the "failure" of Karnataka's counsel to put forth the State's case. He urged the Government to appeal to a larger Bench. At the all-party meeting, legal experts are reported to have said that it might not be possible to appeal for a review of the court directive. There was a view that the directive "favoured" Tamil Nadu. Mettur water release from tomorrow Expecting the release of Cauvery water from Karnataka, the Tamil Nadu Government today ordered the opening of the Mettur dam from September 6 for irrigation in the delta. As Karnataka deliberated on the issue through the day, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, held back the announcement of the opening of the dam until late evening. Only after it became clear that Karnataka would comply with the Supreme Court directive of releasing 1.25 tmcft did Ms. Jayalalithaa give the go-ahead for the opening of the dam. At present, Mettur dam has 30 tmcft of water. The Government had so far not released the water, as it could not have sustained the discharge in the absence of any commitment from Karnataka.
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