CHENNAI: Amid Karnataka’s continuous refusal to release the due share of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay is expected to hold talks with his Karnataka counterpart D K Shivakumar in Bengaluru on August 3 to press for the release of water to save kuruvai crops in the state.
The meeting comes against the backdrop of the Cauvery Water Management Authority’s (CWMA) move to defer its decision on TN’s request to order release of water by Karnataka by a week.
The authority, at a meeting held on July 22, said the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) will decide on the pro-rata water share of the riparian states at the meeting to be held on July 28.
When contacted, a senior official said that Vijay requested the meeting with the Karnataka CM. “As of now, the meeting stands,” the official added when asked about the Karnataka CM’s response.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister R Vinoth on Friday confirmed the CM’s visit to Karnataka and said TN will never allow the neighbouring state to build a dam at Mekedatu.
“Karnataka has been saying that as there is no rain, it could not release water (to TN). But Cauvery water is our right, and the CM will get it (through talks),” he told reporters in Thanjavur.
First CM-level talks on Cauvery issue in 14 yrs
The talks assume significance since such CM-level talks on the dispute are taking place after 14 years. The last meeting was held on November 29, 2012, when the then CM J Jayalalithaa met her Karnataka counterpart Jagadish Shettar on the suggestions of the SC. The talks, however, failed as Karnataka refused to release even a drop of water.
During the tenure of former CM Edappadi K Palaniswami, a decision was taken to meet the then Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah in January-February, 2018, but the meeting did not take place. Some sections had also opposed it at that time, saying it could weaken TN’s legal position in the SC by allowing Karnataka to argue that negotiations were under way.
Recalling how the talks between Jayalalithaa and Jagadish Shettar failed in 2012, PR Pandian, president, TN Farmers’ Associations Coordination Committee, told TNIE that the SC had ruled that Karnataka should not hold any talks on the Cauvery water issue on its own.
Pandian said that only the CWMA, which had been constituted as per the SC order, is empowered to take decisions on sharing of Cauvery water and construction of dams. The states should realise that no state could hold talks on water sharing or building dams without the approval of the authority, he said.
A Veerappan, retired Special Chief Engineer of the state PWD and an expert on water issues, told TNIE, “Between 1974 and 1990, till the formation of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, TN and Karnataka governments held talks for nearly 50 times, but all of them failed. Karnataka never abided by the directives of the Supreme Court and the tribunal.
At best, TN CM can plead with his Karnataka counterpart to release water. Since Karnataka had refused to release water at the July 22 meeting of the CWMA, what new stand will that state take during the talks? This meeting is a diversionary tactic.”
Expressing shock at the CM’s decision, PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss said, “The statement of Minister Vinoth that the CM is taking part in the consultative meeting on Mekedatu dam is strongly condemnable.” The PMK chief said his party had also opposed the inclusion of a demand for a tribunal in the TN Assembly resolution passed against the Mekedatu project.
DMK spokesperson Constantine Ravindran said if CM Vijay could bring Cauvery water to TN through this meeting, it would be a happy move. “But our CM should not discuss the Mekedatu issue with the Karnataka CM. Vijay should ensure that Karnataka does not take undue advantage of Cauvery and Mekedatu issues using this meeting,” he added.
With inputs from N Ramesh @Thanjavur