Rains help ease Cauvery tension

BANGALORE, OCT 4: There is no question of releasing Cauvery waters to Tamil Nadu in view of heavy rains that has improved inflow into the...

BANGALORE, OCT 4: There is no question of releasing Cauvery waters to Tamil Nadu in view of heavy rains that has improved inflow into the Mettur reservoir, State Irrigation Minister K N Nage Gowda told The Indian Express on Monday.

The State will not release any water to TN as there is 8220;natural inflow8221; into TN in the form of rain water, Nage Gowda said, adding that the State Government had written to the Prime Minister asking whether a meeting of the Cauvery River Authority CRA was at all necessary because of this.

The State8217;s contention is: Good rains in TN and Karnataka during the last one week has improved inflow in the Mettur reservoir and the present storage levels in TN will last for a month.

PM A B Vajpayee had convened the CRA meeting on September 29 but postponed it following a request by Chief Minister J H Patel, who had expressed his inability to attend it. Nage Gowda now says the meet could be postponed since the formation of the next Government, both at the Centre and in the State, would take a few more weeks.

On the topic of water release, Nage Gowda said State Chief Secretary B K Bhattacharya has written to the Union Cabinet Secretary clarifying that the water level at Mettur Dam had touched 46 feet. Besides, the dam was recording a daily inflow of about 30,000 cusecs. Water level in all the four dams in Karnataka has increased to 70 TMC ft. The rains had fulfilled the shortfall by 13 TMC ft, leaving only 16 TMC ft of deficit.

Nage Gowda also accused J Jayalalitha of 8220;betraying a mischievous mindset8221; through her 8220;uncalled for8221; statements on the Cauvery issue at a time when both the States were trying to solve the matter amicably. He was referring to the AIADMK chief8217;s accusation against TN Chief Minister M Karunanidhi that he had given in to Karnataka8217;s wishes by agreeing to a clause in the original draft on CRA which provided for the takeover of reservoirs in States that refused to abide by the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal8217;s 1991 interim order.

Such a clause would strike at the federal system and the Constitution itself, besides creating law and order problems, Nage Gowda said. He noted that the Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Kerala had opposed the clause precisely on this count.

Story continues below this ad

Nage Gowda said Jayalalitha had 8220;failed to do anything constructive8221; on the Cauvery issue during her chief ministership. 8220;She only created bitterness and rift between the States. While Karunanidhi is acting like a statesman, she is only indulging in cheap gimmicks,8221; he said.

He also denied a charge by Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha KRRS president M D Nanjundaswamy that Karnataka was releasing water to TN in a 8220;hush-hush manner,8221; and said farmers were alert and no government could fool them.