Bengaluru: Will the report of the fact-finding team on the Cauvery dispute, set to come up before the Supreme Court on Tuesday, the big question arises: will the report help Karnataka retain its diminishing water resources for drinking needs instead of releasing it to Tamil Nadu?
The team was constituted by the apex court and submitted its findings on Monday. Sources said the team highlighted the drying up of tanks, withering of crops and acute shortage of drinking water in both states. It said that crops in 1.88 lakh acres in Karnataka have withered away
Tamil Nadu would receive good rain from the North-East Monsoon as per the meteorological department’s prediction which was not the case in Karnataka where the South-West Monsoon got over last month, the report said.
It referred to the large number of farmer suicides in Mandya and the fact that the Karnataka government has declared 42 of 48 taluks in the Cauvery basin as drought-hit.
Will Supreme Court team report help state?
The fact-finding report by a high-level technical team on Cauvery, constituted by the Supreme Court to study ground realities in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, has come as big relief for Karnataka with the team highlighting the distress situation in the Cauvery basin here. This report is expected to come up before a two-member bench of the apex court which will take up the Cauvery dispute on Tuesday and may prove crucial during the hearing.
The team, headed by G.S. Jha, chairman, Central Water Commission, was constituted by the apex court following appeals by Karnataka’s counsel F.A. Nariman for a realistic assessment of ground realities in Karnataka following failure of monsoon, resulting in poor storage in four reservoirs – KRS, Harangi, Hemavathi and Kabini – in the Cauvery basin. After visiting both states for four days, the team submitted its findings to the SC on Monday. The team, after field visits and interaction with stakeholders in both states, highlighted the drying up of tanks, withering of crops, acute shortage of drinking water for people and livestock in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. However, it was optimistic of good rain in Tamil Nadu during the North-East monsoon as per IMD's prediction in the next 3 months which is not the case in Karnataka where the South-West monsoon got over last month. The team while highlighting the unemployment and financial hardship of farmers due to poor monsoon, said there has been a large number of sui
cides in Mandya. It referred to the fact that the Government of Karnataka has declared 42 of 48 taluks in the Cauvery basin as drought-hit. Dwelling on technical aspects, the team said water application techniques are outdated and unscientific and irrigation is based on the concept of flooding from one field to another which was why water consumption was higher.
Highlights of report
- Due to inadequate supply of water, crops in 1.88 lakh acres withered away and standing crops in 4.27 lakh acres needs 37.27 tmcft of water
- Drinking water requirement of cities and towns, including Bengaluru and Mysuru, till May 2017 is 23.05 tmcft
- Combined live storage in four reservoirs as on October 13, 2016 is only 22.93 tmcft and the minimum inflow up to December 2016 is 15.171 tmcft. Hence, water available to Karnataka is not sufficient to meet the minimum requirement upto May 2017
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said he hoped to get some relief for Karnataka in the Cauvery dispute when its Special Leave Petition (SPL) and Interlocutory Application come up for hearing in the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Refuting the allegation that the state had cultivated more paddy than it should have in the Cauvery basin, he said only 4.3 lakh hectares of the 18 lakh hectares had been sown in the region owing to the water shortage.
