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Karnataka MPs meet Manmohan

Special Correspondent

Deve Gowda leads team; wants `injustice' on Cauvery issue to be set right

NEW DELHI: A delegation of MPs from Karnataka led by former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday and urged the Centre to "set right the injustice" rendered to the State in the final award of the Cauvery River Water Disputes Tribunal.

Memo

In a memorandum submitted on the occasion, the MPs drew attention to a clause in the award, which allowed for modifying it on the basis of agreements among the riparian States and urged the Centre to use the provision for holding discussions with the riparian States on the award.

Stressing that Karnataka would adopt a positive outlook and a reasoned approach in a spirit of true cooperative federalism and democracy during such discussions, the MPs emphasised that it would not possible to implement the order in its present form. Urging the Centre not to notify the award till it was rectified, the memorandum said, "To avoid friction in the implementation of the award and to see that it does not lead to serious law and order problem in the riparian States, the Centre has to come up with some serious measures in bringing sanity to the present order."

While the entire first crop of paddy and 11 per cent of the second crop in Tamil Nadu were protected, even the limited paddy areas in Karnataka were curtailed, with no protection for even a single acre of double crop. The paddy area considered for Tamil Nadu for water allocation was 22.5 lakh acres while for Karnataka it was only 7.67 lakh acres, which was 0.64 lakh acres less than the minimal claim for first crop paddy area of only 8.31 lakh acres. In addition, going by experience, it would be impossible to implement the prescription for the release of 153 tmcft of water at Bilingundlu for June-September unless areas in Karnataka were kept parched.

The award, they said, was unjust as it had not taken into account even the small quantum of 20 tmcft of groundwater, which the tribunal held that Tamil Nadu had in the Cauvery delta area as against Tamil Nadu's own admission of 74 tmcft, and as it had directed that share of Kerala from Cauvery water was to be used by Tamil Nadu for growing second crop, while ignoring even the first crop areas in Karnataka.

Further, it had allocated 25.71 tmcft of the balance water to Tamil Nadu on the basis of population alone and had added to Tamil Nadu's share of 10 tmcft allocated for environment purposes and four tmcft allowed for inevitable escape into sea. "This is penalising the upstream State for the luxury of wastage in Tamil Nadu.'' The MPs rejected the proposal for setting up a management board for Cauvery on the lines of the Bhakra-Beas Management Board on the ground that it would allow the lower riparian States to take control of the reservoirs across the river in Karnataka.

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