Date:24/03/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/03/24/stories/2007032407350400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

`Cauvery agitation losing focus'

Special Correspondent

Bangalore: Expressing concern over the agitation against the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal "losing focus," the former Minister H.N. Nanje Gowda has said that a meeting of the coordinating committee of various farmers' and Kannada organisations has been called on March 29 to take the agitation forward meaningfully.

Speaking at a seminar organised by the Karnataka Commission for Women here on Friday, Mr. Nanje Gowda, who is considered an expert in matters related to irrigation, said political and personal agendas had always overtaken the subject of irrigation in the State. While parties had used the interim award of the tribunal for political gains, they were not taking the final award seriously because they saw no big political gain in it, he said.

The tribunal was still guided by the 1924 agreement between the British and the Wadiyars of Mysore. "Though it seemed to move away from the pact during arguments, the tribunal came back to it in its final conclusions," he said.