Cauvery water row: Shettar writes to Manmohan Singh

Bangalore: Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar today urged the Centre not to set up the Cauvery Management Board till the Supreme Court took a final decision on the pending civil appeals filed by the state in the matter.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he listed out the state’s concerns and said Karnataka in its appeals had challenged the constitution of the Cauvery Management Board as proposed by the inter-state water dispute tribunal.

“The constitution of a Board/Authority under Section 6 A of the Inter-State Water Dispute Act should be done only after the final decision by the Supreme Court in the pending Civil Appeals, and also the above mentioned concerns of Karnataka need to be addressed forthwith,” he said.

“The proposed Board will protect the interests of the lower riparian state - Tamil Nadu - virtually taking control over the Karnataka reservoirs which have been built by the state’s own resources. This would be a draconian measure which is against the spirit of the federal system,” Shettar said.

As the notification of the final award of the tribunal by the Centre sparked protests with members of Kannada outfit Karnataka Rakshana Vedike staging demonstrations in Mysore, Mandya and Bangalore, Shettar told reporters that there was no law to say that the Board has to be constituted.

“It (clearance for the proposed Board) has to come before Parliament, and there has to be discussions. Under law, there is room for amendment,” he said.

Reacting angrily to the Centre notifying the tribunal’s final award, former Prime Minister and JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda announced “peaceful struggle” against the move.

“If it becomes inevitable, fasting will be the last resort,” he told reporters here.

Shettar, in his letter, contended that the tribunal had over estimated crop water requirement of Tamil Nadu based on its “self-serving affidavits” overlooking Karnataka’s objections.

The latest assessment made by a Central team under Supreme Court directive had exposed the false claims of Tamil Nadu, Shettar said. “Therefore, the very basis of allocation of water to Tamil Nadu has to be revisited,” he reasoned.

The dispute assumes larger dimension only during distress years and hence, the focus had to be on addressing the situation during the distress years, he said.

“Unless this is addressed, the dispute would defy a permanent solution which is expected in the final order of the Tribunal,” he said.

Shettar also said the tribunal’s prescription of monthly accounting of the quota on proportionate water sharing formula under distress situation without assessing the ground realities had been of great concern.

Moreover, the Cauvery River Authority was yet to finalise the distress sharing formula. Pending this, issuing final notification is going to have a great bearing on the Cauvery water dispute, he argued.

Elaborating Karnataka’s concerns, Shettar said as against the state’s claim of 465 TMC only 270 TMC of water had been allocated by the tribunal.

Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly, Siddaramaiah sought to blame the state government vis-a-vis the notification, alleging that it gave an undertaking in the apex court that it had no objection for the notification of the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.

PTI