Karnataka for early order on Cauvery

BANGALORE, July 23: The state government is likely to appeal to the Cauvery Water Tribunal for a speedy adjudication of the Cauvery dispu...

BANGALORE, July 23: The state government is likely to appeal to the Cauvery Water Tribunal for a speedy adjudication of the Cauvery dispute pending before it for the last seven years and press for a final award at the earliest, announced Karnataka8217;s Minister for Major Irrigation K N Nage Gowda. He told media persons here on Wednesday that the Government would seek legal opinion on the matter and would hold an all-party meeting to discuss the issue.

The state also plans to urge Prime Minister A B Vajpayee to formulate a national water policy on the sharing of inter-state river waters, after consultation with the chief ministers of the various riparian states. An assurance to this effect had been given by the then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao to the Supreme Court in 1996.

Quoting from a letter written in January 1996 by Narasimha Rao to H D Deve Gowda during his term as Chief Minister, he pointed to initiatives in this regard taken by Rao. The ministry of water resources had at the time, prepared adraft of the guidelines, as also other draft policies on various aspects such as resettlement and rehabilitation of the project affected people, a national water information bill and so on. These policy issues had been discussed then by the National Water Board, the official level committee on which all states are represented, Nage Gowda said.

Subject to the cooperation of neighbouring Tamil Nadu, the state was for supplanting the current system of monthly sittings with daily hearings before the Cauvery Tribunal to expedite the matter, he said. The Tribunal set up seven years ago to adjudicate the dispute between Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Pondicherry over the sharing of the Cauvery river waters has so far only come out with an interim award whereas the Bachawat Tribunal on the Krishna waters granted its final award in 6 years, Nage Gowda pointed out.