Karnataka - Bangalore   

Karunanidhi urged to take the lead in resolving Cauvery row

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Tuesday made an appeal to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi to take the lead in resolving the decades-old dispute on the sharing of Cauvery waters between two States.

The Chief Minister was reacting to the statement made by Mr. Karunanidhi that the upper riparian States of Karnataka and Kerala were "harassing" Tamil Nadu with their discriminatory attitude. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister sought the intervention of the Centre for an amicable resolution of the dispute.

Mr. Kumaraswamy told presspersons here that he would extend full support to Mr. Karunanidhi if the Tamil Nadu Government admitted that injustice had been done to Karnataka by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal its final verdict. Mr. Karunanidhi was only concerned about the injustice done to his State. "I will offer him all support if he agrees to take the lead in resolving the water dispute and providing justice to all the affected States," Mr. Kumaraswamy said.

The tribunal, in its final award, allocated 419 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) of water to Tamil Nadu, 270 tmcft of water to Karnataka, 30 tmcft to Kerala and 7 tmcft to Puducherry in a normal year.

`Senior politician'

Asked whether he would initiate talks with his Tamil Nadu counterpart, Mr. Kumaraswamy said "the situation has not arisen at present". "The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister is a senior politician and recently celebrated his golden jubilee as member of the State legislature. I suggest that he take the lead in solving the inter-State water sharing dispute," he said.

Screening of films

To a question on Tamil films, the Chief Minister said theatres had stopped screening Tamil films in Bangalore after several organisations launched protests against the tribunal award. "It is not correct as per the law." But many pro-Kannada and farmers organisations were of the view that screening of Tamil films should not be allowed till the Cauvery dispute was solved and justice was done to the State, Mr. Kumaraswamy said.

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