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Journalism of Courage
Defending Karnataka’s decision to release 1,200 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu every day, Chief Minister S.M. Krishna today said this ‘‘goodwill gesture’’ will help improve the state’s relationship with its neighbour.
‘‘It is the beginning of a new understanding between the two states. There is a need to erase the bitter feelings of the past. Being an upper riparian state, Karnataka must accept the rights of the lower riparian state. In times of difficulties, we have to help each other,’’ Krishna told reporters.
However, the CM added that adequate care has been taken to protect the standing sugarcane crop in over 80,000 acres of land, as well as the drinking water needs of major towns.
Three months ago, the government had promised to save the standing crops in the Cauvery basin, covering over 5.9 lakh hectares. Many were skeptical of the promise. Now, the state can heave a sigh of relief, as it has protected the paddy crop in over five lakh acres. During the next three months, the state will safeguard the standing sugarcane crop in over 80,000 acres, Krishna said.
Though there were no directions either from the Supreme Court or Cauvery River Authority (CRA), which was binding on the state to release additional water, Karnataka had the obligation of implementing the interim order of the tribunal, the CM said. With this decision, the state can come out of the clutches of the Supreme Court even though there was no CRA order binding on the state, Krishna explained.
While releasing water to the Shivanasamudra Power Generation Station and to the state’s farmers through various canals, about 900 cusecs of water would flow into Tamil Nadu. The additional outflow of around 300 cusecs would not affect the state, he assured.
The Mettur reservoir in Tamil Nadu was already receiving about 1,200 cusecs daily, over the past four days, and the inflow recorded there on Tuesday was around 1,681 cusecs, Krishna said.
Stating that Karnataka firmly believed that only bilateral talks could solve the problem of water-sharing, Krishna added that he did not mean that the state was opposed to the CRA. ‘‘CRA and bilateral negotiations compliment each other,’’ he said.
