Cauvery row: No word, still waiting for meeting with PM, says Siddaramaiah
Kalaburagi: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has received no response yet to his request for a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Cauvery row.
Disclosing this to reporters here on Saturday, he said he had asked to meet Mr Modi to discuss the need for a national water policy to resolve inter-state water disputes, but had received no response from him still.
“Seeing how difficult it is to comply with the court order (on release of water to Tamil Nadu), I have asked to meet the Prime Minister. But he not given me an appointment,” he said
Asked if Mr Modi was deliberately avoiding meeting him, Mr Siddaramaiah responded, “You can draw your own inference”. As for the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the state challenging the final award of the tribunal for release of 192 TMCFT of water to Tamil Nadu, he said its hearing on October 20 would give Karnataka an opportunity to state its case again before the Supreme Court.
“We will tell the court that we are not in a position to release any more water to Tamil Nadu during the final hearing of the SLP on October 20. We will submit that we have complied with the directions of the court and are left with only 28 TMC of water in ours reservoirs, which is sufficient only to supply drinking water to Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mandya and other towns and villages. We will try to impress on it how explosive the situation is in the state in the wake of release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, ” he explained.
Asked what the alternative was if the SLP too did not go in the state’s favour, the Chief Minister advised against making too many assumptions. In reply to a query, he ruled out the possibility of his quitting over the Cauvery row. “Water has always been released in the past in response to a court order. Why am I being made the villain here?” he demanded.
Modi’s intervention unlikely in Cauvery row
Many Congress leaders, including CM Siddaramaiah and KPCC president Dr G. Parameshwar, and senior advocate Prof Ravivarma Kumar have sought PM Modi’s intervention to resolve the ongoing Cauvery crisis, but the scope for the latter to step in and find a solution seems remote.
If there was room for the PM to legally intervene why has the legal team headed by Fali S. Nariman has not suggested this to the government? Sources in the government told Deccan Chronicle that Mr Modi has no role in implementation of the Tribunal’s final award or to find a solution.
“There is no legal space for the PM in the Cauvery Management Committee and the Cauvery Supervisory Committee. So, he cannot interfere,” sources said. On how late PM Indira Gandhi used to intervene and give directions on river water issues, sources said when Ms Gandhi was handling water disputes, state leaders were not so strong and independent.
“It was the era before setting up of tribunal. Now, the situation is different that too when SC is handling the matter,” sources said. On the possibility of mediation, they said, “In legal sense, for mediation to happen, both parties have to agree to it. If State and Tamil Nadu agree, then we can persuade the PM to mediate.”
