BENGALURU: Expressing reservations about the formation of the Cauvery Water Sharing Scheme, the state government has decided to challenge it in the Supreme Court. This was decided at an all-party meeting on Saturday. The Cauvery Water Management Authority and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee were set up recently on the directions of Supreme Court while hearing a petition on the Cauvery dispute in January.
The meeting, called by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, also decided that the Members of Parliament from the state will raise the issue in the upcoming session of Parliament and ‘fight for the rights of the state’ both inside and outside the House. Despite opposing the formation of the Authority, the state government has decided to send its representatives to the first CWMA meeting on July 2 to present the state’s views.
Briefing the media after the meeting, Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar said that the Cauvery Water Management Scheme notified by the Union Ministry of Water Resources based on a Supreme Court ruling in January this year was objectionable. “We have authorised the state legal team to file an appeal against the notification. The number of appeals and the kind of appeals to be filed by the state will be decided later,” he said. According to the Interstate Water Disputes Act, any water-sharing scheme between two states has to be discussed in Parliament before a notification is issued.
Siddu skips meeting
CLP leader Siddaramaiah did not attend the all-party meeting. D K Shivakumar said that all MLAs were invited for the meeting. “However, Siddaramaiah had informed us that he won’t be able to attend the meeting due to some preoccupation,” he said.
“However, the Supreme Court has given an order on the scheme even before Parliament took up the issue. The state is also opposed to the haste in which representatives were selected for the Authority,” Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar said.MPs from the state will raise the issue in the monsoon session of Parliament. Discussion in Parliament would provide room to make modifications to the notification or even to make it null and void, he said.
On sending state’s representatives to the Authority meeting, he said that Karnataka will not be able to clarify its stand on the matter if its representatives did not present its case during the meeting. Pointing out that the chief minister had personally met the Prime Minister and Union water resources minister on the issue related to the Cauvery Water Management Scheme during his recent visit to Delhi, Shivakumar said despite the state’s reservation, the Centre had already notified and constituted the regulatory committee and authority.