H D Kumaraswamy flags Cauvery body issues, Centre plans meet
BENGALURU: The Centre has assured Karnataka of convening a meeting of all the riparian states soon to discuss the objections raised by the state against some of the guidelines of the recently formed Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA).
The CWMA is mandated to oversee the water sharing in accordance with the Supreme Court verdict on Cauvery dispute. The assurance came during Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s meeting with Union water resources minister Nitin Gadkari and later with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday.
“The Union government has notified the formation of CWMA to implement the Supreme Court order on Cauvery water sharing between Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry. But some of the guidelines are unscientific. I have drawn the attention of the Union government to these guidelines which would prove detrimental to the interests of Karnataka farmers,” Kumaraswamy told reporters after meeting Gadkari and Modi.
For instance, the CWMA has mandated to assess availability of water in each reservoir in Cauvery basin every ten days and ensure monthly release of Tamil Nadu’s share of water from Karnataka. “This is unscientific. Discharge of water from Karnataka even when the dams in Tamil Nadu have full storage would result in discharged water going waste to the sea. Similarly, discharge of water when storage in Karnataka reservoirs is very low and farmers in Karnataka are in severe distress is impractical,” Kumaraswamy explained and suggested instead a more flexible water discharge schedule.
He said that he had conveyed Karnataka’s objections on the powers vested with CWMA to decide the cropping pattern in Cauvery basin. “It is violation of the federal structure of the union of states if the CWMA can dictate to the farmers of state as to what they could cultivate and what not. Karnataka has every right to use its share of water as per its needs. Why should CWMA have a role in this,” Kumaraswamy asked.
“We are not against the Cauvery Authority. We are only objecting to some of the unscientific guidelines. We want them to be rectified,” he said. The Union government has assured a meeting of all the riparian states to discuss the issues raised by Karnataka, Kumaraswamy said.