Southern States - Karnataka   

'Order on water release will be obeyed'

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE FEB. 15. The Karnataka Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, today defended the State Government's handling of the Cauvery waters issue and the Veerappan menace, and rejected any suggestion for defying the Supreme Court and the Cauvery River Authority on water release to Tamil Nadu.

The contention of some individuals and organisations that the State should consider releasing Cauvery waters to Tamil Nadu only after meeting in full its own requirements could not be accepted, he said while speaking at the installation of B. Janardhana Poojary as the new KPCC president.

The Government was implementing the latest CRA order (of February 10) on release of water to Tamil Nadu. The court had directed the State to release water in terms of the interim award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal. "The State is under a legal obligation to release 205 tmcft of water to Tamil Nadu a year.'' He was indirectly referring to some organisations in Mandya and Mysore districts, which have protested against the latest directive of the CRA and resorted to protests.

Replying to those who were arguing that "whatever might be the law, the State should look after its interests first,'' the Chief Minister said that they were living in a federal set up and had to respect the Constitution and the law of the land. The rights of the upper and lower riparian States had to be safeguarded. "We have to obey the order of the Supreme Court and the CRA,'' he added.

Mr. Krishna reiterated that the Government did not foresee any problem in meeting the irrigation and drinking water needs of the cities and towns in the State out of the storage in the Cauvery Basin reservoirs till June. He said the paddy crop raised on 5.5 lakh acres of land had already been harvested in Mandya, Mysore, Chamarajanagar and Tumkur districts. Only the sugarcane crop had to be harvested in Mandya and Chamarajanagar districts, he said.

The Chief Minister explained as to why at one point of time the Government had taken the stand that it would not release water to Tamil Nadu "at any cost.'' At that time, the Krishnarajasagar and Kabini reservoirs were on the verge of drying up. He undertook a `padayatra' in October last, and fortunately for the State, rains occurred, improving the storage in the reservoirs.

On the Veerappan menace, Mr. Krishna said that some people in North India had asked him as to how Tamil Nadu and Karnataka could not nab a forest brigand with their combined might. The death of the former Minister, H. Nagappa, was beyond the control of the Government. The STFs of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka had now cornered Veerappan in the forests, and he had been confined to one area. The only aim of the Government was to nab Veerappan and have him punished under the law. He had assured the State STF chief, Jyoti Praksh Mirji, and an STF officer, Arkesh, that the Government was prepared to increase the strength of the force by inducting more State Reserve Police and Central Reserve Police personnel. The strength of the STF had gone up from 500 to 1,000, and the Government was encouraging the STF in every respect.

Mr. Krishna described the release of the matinee idol, Rajkumar, from the clutches of Veerappan through negotiations as a big success scored by the Government.

The Chief Minister rebutted criticism that the finances of the State were in a bad shape. He said that the one who had said it was the Finance Minister for eight months and schooled in outdated 18th and 19th Century economics. He had no knowledge of modern economics. It was for the Reserve Bank of India to say whether the finances of any State were in bad shape or not.

The State had not resorted to overdrafts even for a week, and that illustrated the soundness of the finances, he added.

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