Cauvery issue: Central team to visit TN, Karnataka

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday announced that a Central team would visit Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to ensure that the farmers of the region get sufficient Cauvery water to meet their irrigation needs.

In fact, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who met the media here after presenting a memorandum to Singh for the immediate release of 24.32 tmc ft of water (due between June to July 25) from Karnataka, quoting the Prime Minister said the team would be headed by Union Water Resources Minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi.

She reminded Singh that the release of 24.32 tmc ft of water by Karnataka was Tamil Nadu’s legally entitled balance share at this stage, as per the Tribunal’s interim order. She also put up a strong case for convening a meeting of the Cauvery River Authority at the earliest.

Union Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran, who met Singh along with a Tamil Nadu UPA delegation on Monday to discuss the issue, quoted Singh in a statement saying the Prime Minister spoke to Karnataka Chief Minister Dharam Singh last night itself.

He told the Prime Minister he would decide on releasing water to Tamil Nadu after holding discussions with Karnataka officials.

Meanwhile, a release issued by the PMO on Jayalalithaa’s meeting with Singh at the Parliament House here said Singh had informed her he had already spoken to Dharam Singh in this regard. He said: “It is our duty to see that justice is done to all farmers.

The farmers’ interests are dearest to me. The Government of India will do all that is possible to relieve the distress of the farmers and ensure their needs are met.“

Jayalalithaa told the media that she had urged the Prime Minister to direct Karnataka to release water from both the Kabini and Krishnaraja Sagar reservoirs so that the deficit of 24.32 tmc ft to Tamil Nadu was made good. Presently, only the extra water from the Kabini reservoir is being released.

“As on July 25 this year, Karnataka should have released 45.80 tmc ft of water to Tamil Nadu. As against this, Mettur received only 21.48 tmc ft leaving a deficit of 24.32 tmc ft.”

If the entire quantity of water, as ordered by the Tribunal, had been released by Karnataka, the farmers in the Cauvery delta districts of Tamil Nadu would have been in a position to begin cultivation of the short-term kuruvai crop. “This stark fact should be noted,” she told him.

Jayalalithaa said Karnataka had had a normal monsoon this year and the reservoirs had received good inflows. The total storage in Karnataka’s reservoirs as of July 25 was 70.25 tmc ft. “This is a comfortable storage situation and will easily enable the release of the prescribed quantity to Tamil Nadu as per the interim order of the Tribunal without any deficit,” the Chief Minister added.

The importance of the timely release of water as per the schedule is critical to the delta farmers and “delaying the release is justice denied.” While Kabini is almost full, the Krishnaraja Sagar Dam had 27.491 tmc ft, with the height touching 105.56 ft, she said.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister blamed Karnataka for not releasing water on a monthly basis and according to the weekly schedule as worked out by the Tribunal in 1991. On her attempts to contact Dharam Singh to release the water, she said she had already written letters to him besides meeting him in Delhi during the NDC meeting.

A senior ministerial delegation from Tamil Nadu would once again meet him on August 2 to urge him to release the water. Though the appointment was sought for Tuesday, it was given only for August 2, she charged. She even charged the PMO of giving an appointment to her on Tuesday though she had sought an appointment for Monday.

Jayalalithaa stressed that the Centre should prevail upon Karnataka to release the entire quantity of water at least by August 10 to save the kuruvai crop. “After that it will be too late to save the crops,” she said adding that the water flow must be sustained as per the orders of the Tribunal.

To a question, Jayalalithaa said UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi should do her duty to the Tamil Nadu farmers by directing the Congress-ruled Karnataka Government to adhere to the interim orders of the Tribunal and release water.