Date:13/05/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/05/13/stories/2006051305970400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Dharam Singh wants all-party meet

Staff Reporter

Assessors' report on water requirement

BANGALORE: Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly N. Dharam Singh has urged Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the disclosure of the report of the assessors appointed by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal to look into the water requirement of the riparian States.

He told presspersons here on Friday that the disclosure of the report was disturbing and the Government should take urgent measures to safeguard the interests of farmers in the Cauvery Basin as the tribunal might attempt to restrict the State from expanding its command area.

Assessors J.I. Gian Chandani and S.R. Sahasrabudhe had recommended that the State's water requirement was just 251 tmcft. They put Tamil Nadu's requirement at 395 tmcft, Kerala's at 34 tmcft and Pondicherry's at 7 tmcft. The recommendation would be detrimental to the interests of the State's farmers, he said.

The State had only five weeks' time to give its opinion on the report, and the Government should clarify its position on the report keeping the interests of farmers in mind, he said.

Election results

The results of the elections in five States and the margin with which Congress president Sonia Gandhi had won in Rae Bareli had shocked the coalition partners in the State, Mr. Singh said.

The days of the State Government were numbered and it would fall on its own, he added.