Bengaluru: Citing ‘extreme unrest’ in the state over the Cauvery River water sharing dispute, CM Siddaramaiah appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his letter on Friday to intervene in the matter by convening a meeting of Chief Ministers of all states under the Cauvery river basin on priority to resolve the issue amicably.
Mr Siddaramaiah in his letter, observed that in the wake of the state releasing 15,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu every day in accordance with the order of the Supreme Court, there is extreme unrest. “The unrest if it continues, will have a serious impact on the economy of the state, particularly the IT economy, which brings enormous revenue and foreign exchange not only to the state but also to the nation. The unrest will also impact the livelihood of the common man adversely in large parts of the state,” he argued. Contending that Tamil Nadu had adequate water to meet the requirements of its farmers in the Cauvery delta, he said, “If we continue to release water from the dam, it will completely deprive Bengaluru of drinking water and affect farmers in the Cauvery basin. The present storage in Mettur dam in Tamil Nadu and the North-East Monsoon rainfall received in that state would be more than sufficient to meet the requirement of the Samba rice crop in TN.” The CM said in the letter that he was constrained to obey the order of the Supreme Court and release water though it has created more unrest. He referred to a similar situation in December 1995 when the state had requested the Prime Minister to resolve the water deficit issue which was done to the satisfaction of all those involved.
Meanwhile, Water Resources Minister, M.B. Patil asserted that the state government cannot heed the demands of agitators. Speaking to reporters here, Mr Patil said, “The state government cannot promulgate an ordinance to over step the Apex court’s ruling to release water.” He reiterated that the government would continue to adopt legal means to solve the impasse. “The Cauvery River Monitoring committee meeting is scheduled for Monday. We will appeal to them as well as to the SC to reconsider their decision,” he explained.
HDK: Apprise Modi of state’s distress situation
Slamming CM Siddaramaiah for moving PM Narendra Modi to convene a meeting of Chief Ministers of four riparian states over sharing water of the Cauvery, state JD(S) president H.D. Kumaraswamy said on Friday the most appropriate step at this juncture would be to seek an appointment with Mr Modi and petition him about the distress situation in Karnataka.
“What is the use now (Of Mr Siddaramaiah writing to Mr Modi)? Now, water has been released to Tamil Nadu and the state government has decided to file a modification application in the Supreme Court,” Mr Kumaraswamy, told DC, adding “If the CM is serious about the issue, he should have anticipated the problem a fortnight ago and dispatched a letter to the Prime Minister even before Tamil Nadu could approach the court. Now, it is too late.”
In his letter, the CM has quoted an instance of the then PM convening such a meeting. If he wanted such a meeting, the Chief Minister's advisers should have pointed it out earlier itself. In the early stages, no one gave a thought to the possible shortage of water though Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa is known to create problems when the state is reeling under distress. Now, the letter looks like an attempt to fool the people, Mr Kumaraswamy added.
