The Hindu : Cauvery meet fails to resolve differences between T.N., Karnataka

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 26, 2002

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Cauvery meet fails to resolve differences between T.N., Karnataka

By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi Nov. 25. At the meeting of the Cauvery Monitoring Committee here today, both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu disputed the quantum of water released by the former to the latter and whether the measuring gauge should be at Biligundlu or at the Mettur reservoir.

The Central Water Commission, however, uses Mettur as the measuring station as per the interim order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and subsequently, the Supreme Court and the Cauvery River Authority.

In fact, one of the major points of the meeting was to reconcile the data of shortfall in releases by Karnataka. The Centre put out a figure, to which both the States disagreed. The meeting took into account the deficiency in rainfall in South-West monsoon and the IMD forecast for rainfall during the current North-East monsoon in Tamil Nadu.

At the end of the three-hour meeting, the Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, A. K. Goswami, who chaired the meeting, said the meeting was primarily to firm up and reconsider the facts given by Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. No decision was intended to be taken, he added.

The meeting was attended by the Karnataka Chief Secretary, A. Ravindra, the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary, Sukaveneshvar, and the Pondicherry Chief Secretary, Padmanabhan. Kerala was represented by its Chief Engineer, Sasi.

During the meeting, Pondicherry also raised the issue of it not getting its proportionate share from Tamil Nadu, which was discounted by the latter. The CRA had ordered that Tamil Nadu should make proportionate releases of Cauvery waters to Pondicherry. Under the interim award, Tamil Nadu should get 205 tmc ft in a water year and release 6 tmc ft to Pondicherry.

A report about the outcome of the meeting would be sent to the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, Chairman of the CRA, which is scheduled to meet here on November 29. The Chief Ministers of the four Cauvery riparian States are members of the CRA.

While taking into consideration whether Karnataka had implemented the order, the CRA would also take into account the deficiency in releases of water by Karnataka. A contempt suit filed by Tamil Nadu against the Karnataka Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, for non-compliance is coming up for hearing early next month.

Sources said that during the meeting, Tamil Nadu stated the deficit in the water released by Karnataka, which was contested by Karnataka. Tamil Nadu wanted the deficit to be made good by Karnataka as per the order of the Supreme Court. According to Tamil Nadu, the shortfall in releases was 23.18 tmc ft. as on November 20 as per the CRA's formula.

Both the States disputed the storage levels in the four reservoirs in Karnataka, as well as in the Mettur reservoir in Tamil Nadu. They disagreed on the water requirement for the standing crops. Tamil Nadu stated that it required 70 tmc ft water till February for its standing "samba'' crop, to which Karnataka said that the requirement was not more than 40 tmc ft.

Karnataka has been asked by the CRA to release 9,000 cusecs of Cauvery water into Mettur per day for September and October under a distress formula.

From November 7, it can reduce the releases to ensure compliance of the interim order of the tribunal, which accounts for weekly releases.

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