The Hindu : Karnataka News : CRA meet not necessary now, says Dharam Singh

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 10, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

CRA meet not necessary now, says Dharam Singh

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, JUNE 9. The Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, has communicated to the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, that Karnataka does not see any need for convening a meeting of the Cauvery River Authority (CRA) at this juncture.

Karnataka's stand vis-à-vis Tamil Nadu's request for convening a meeting of the CRA and for releasing Cauvery water has been made clear even as a three-member team from the Central Water Commission (CWC) visited the State to study the storage in the reservoirs.

Addressing presspersons at Vidhana Soudha here today, Mr. Dharam Singh said he discussed the issue with the Prime Minister over telephone today and sent a letter detailing the water level in the four reservoirs of the Cauvery Basin and the continued distress faced by the farmers.

He informed the Prime Minister that although a few parts of the Cauvery Basin received rain in May, the inflow into the reservoirs was not sufficient even to the minimum drawal level. He said the storage in all the four reservoirs of the basin had touched the lowest level following inadequate rainfall in the past three years.

The CWC had deputed a three-member team of officials, led by its chief engineer, C.B. Vasistha, to the State.

The team held a meeting with the Chief Minister and the Irrigation Department officials at the Secretariat. It will visit the Harangi, Kabini, Krishnarajasagar and Hemavathy reservoirs and Mettur Dam in Tamil Nadu, and submit a report to the Prime Minister by June 12.

The team will make a firsthand assessment of the water storage position in the four reservoirs and Mettur Dam. It will also survey the kuruvai crop and rainfall received in the Cauvery Basin. The team will interact with engineers at the four reservoirs and at Mettur Dam.

The Centre decided to send the team to the two States after an all-party team of members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu met the Prime Minister. The delegation requested the Prime Minister to direct Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu according to the interim award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (1991). The delegation also wanted the Prime Minister to resolve the dispute over sharing of Cauvery water among Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, and Pondicherry.

The State Cabinet met on Tuesday and discussed the issue in detail.

The Deputy Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, said the State Government was committed to safeguarding the interests of the farmers in the Cauvery Basin. The State was not in a position to release water to Tamil Nadu as the farmers were facing severe shortage.

A delegation from Tamil Nadu will visit the State on Thursday and meet the Chief Minister.

Besides Mr. Vasistha, the CWC team comprises A.D. Bharadwaj, Commissioner in the Ministry of Water Resources, and Joginder Singh, Additional Commissioner in the Union Agriculture Ministry.

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