How Karnataka's interests were put on backburner

Mandya: Even while the Congress- led padayatra 'Our water our right" is inching towards Mekedatu the controversial river water project site, old skeletons of the Cauvery water dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have started tumbling down.

The Cauvery river water sharing between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu had always been a bone of contention between two states and many attempts have been made by various governments including the British to amicably settle the issue. "But there is nothing amicable in what was is happening now, let us not beat around the bush and come to a consensus over the issue of having a National River Water Policy guide the water sharing pattern between the two states" Cauvery Hitarakshana Samithi states quoting a report.

On the emerging scene over the Cauvery, former Chief Minister and Congress leader M Veerappa Moily told Hans News Service: "Tamil Nadu always had managed to have its way in one way or the other in water sharing. We are fed up with this kind of unilateral decisions by the Centre. We are not going to war this time but will bring pressure through people's movement from the rice bowl of Karnataka on the people's representatives at all levels to bring a National River Water Policy (NRWP) which should guide all existing and future water sharing within the political map of India. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra, Kerala all have their shares of water disputes which are presently handled by loosely knit committees and political bodies. There is no policy" he said. Dr Moily was charged with violating the National Disaster Management Act and the Ramnagara police have filed an FIR against him.

"Karnataka has suffered over 200 years due to its row over Cauvery river water sharing with Tamil Nadu, the first row had erupted in 1800- 1801 when the farmers had taken objection with the Mysore government for expanding farming on Cauvery basin by the farmers of the Tirunelveli due to which an agreement was signed that dictated Karnataka to cut down all its water consumption in the basin," Moily told.

"This legacy was continuing even after 200 years and today's situation of Karnataka pertaining to the Cauvery water sharing was nothing better than what it had been 200 years back. The Madras Presidency under the British government had also signed a pact with the Karnataka province in 1924 which was in force till 1974. The Karnataka government in 1948 after the independence had sought cancellation of all agreements that the British government had authored on water sharing between two states but the Tamil Nadu government had sought court order to retain the spirit of the 1924 agreement. Again after the unification of Karnataka the state government wanted the cancellation of the 1924 agreement on the ground that Karnataka was separated from the erstwhile Madras Presidency and was an independent state and a new agreement had to be scripted taking into consideration the new status of the Karnataka state. But the Tamil Nadu government stuck with the old agreement'. Moily recalled.

Historian of the Cauvery river water dispute L Sandesh says "Even when the KRS was built the Karnataka government was made to run from pillar to post for 13 years to just to propose the construction of KRS reservoir. According to the figures in his book, 'Cauvery Kadana' (on interstate water sharing disputes between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu published in 2003), Karnataka has already released over 6000 TMC of water which Tamil Nadu has used only a fraction of it and the rest had allowed the water to flow into the Bay of Bengal.

The farmer leaders and government functionaries in 1972 had proposed the construction of another dam at Mekedatu closer to the Tamil Nadu border under Karnataka-Tamil Nadu joint venture with participation from the central government that dam had not come up due to political reasons which is what caused the frequent eruption of a dispute between the two states over Cauvery water sharing.'

Over nine lakh hectares irrigated by the Cauvery river water for growing ragi, sugarcane and paddy in the Cauvery basin for which the Tamil Nadu was equipped with irrigation infrastructure comprising mainly 75 Dams, 10540 Tanks, 4429 km length of canals, that has been created helps meet the crop water requirement of nearly 33 lakh hectares of gross irrigated area in the State. According to sources in the Cauvery Monitoring Committee, Tamil Nadu had one of the best irrigation and water augmentation facility among the southern states, the situation was buffered by –October-January south Eastern monsoons, in addition to the Cauvery river inflow from Karnataka side which gets water from South Western monsoons.

As per the 2007 award of CWDT, for a normal water year flow of 726 TMC in the Cauvery river basin, the contribution of Karnataka to the river system is 385 TMC at 53% of the total flow. Of this, the award specifies Karnataka's share as 270 TMC, and 192 TMC should flow from Karnataka to TN at Biligundlu measuring point. Now, out of this 385 TMC, if Karnataka utilises its share of 270 TMC then TN will have to be deprived of 192 TMC. Or, if TN has to get its share of 192 TMC then Karnataka will have to underutilise its awarded share.

Hence, there appears to be a basic operational problem in complying with the CWDT order. This means this water war will continue to exist even after the award notification and peace do not settle. Further, all the beneficiary States of the Cauvery River basin have contested this 2007 award of CWDT at the highest level.