Krishna opens door, Amma wants more

In a written petition to the PM, Jayalalithaa has claimed that Tamil Nadu may suffer a loss of Rs 2,360 crore with the failure of two rice crops. She has not only demanded immediate release of water but also cash compensation to the tune of Rs 400 crores for the affected farmers.

Two lakh tonnes of rice for the mid-day meal scheme and waiver of the principal of medium and short-term loans taken by farmers are also in her list of demands.

The decision to give water to Tamil Nadu was taken at an official-level meeting, soon after Karnataka Chief Minister S.M. Krishna gave an assurance to Vajpayee that he will release ‘‘some water’’. Discussions are on to find ways to release this water in phases.

As per the interim award, Karnataka is supposed to release 2.51 tmcft in January and 2.17 tmcft in February. But it has not been able to stick to this supply. What Jayalalithaa has got is close to 6 tmcft for the next two months, Water Resources Secy A.K. Goswami said after a two-hour meeting.

Meanwhile, the Cauvery River Authority (CRA) meeting convened by the PM was deferred due to lack of quorum today. While Jayalalithaa and Krishna were present, the Chief Ministers of Kerala and Pondicherry were not there.

Krishna was the first to meet the PM, followed by Jayalalithaa. It is learnt that Jayalalithaa asked Vajpayee whether Krishna had given any commitment to release water to Tamil Nadu. Vajpayee informed her that Krishna has agreed to release ‘‘some water for the months of January and February’’. Jayalalithaa then urged upon the PM to ask Krishna to release the bulk of water in the first two weeks of both the months since the samba crop was drying up.

She issued a statement alleging that though Karnataka should have released 194.45 tmcft of water till January 10 this year, only 84.83 tmcft of water had been released at Mettur, leaving a massive deficit.

‘‘If the Cauvery River Authority does not right this wrong and continues to postpone a decision, or does not act firmly to order release of water to Tamil Nadu and to enforce such a decision taken by it, a national loss of about Rs 2,360 crores that will put the Tamil Nadu economy back by a decade, will be on its head,’’ she said.