CHENNAI: The vexatious Cauvery river water-sharing dispute seems to heat up once again, mainly owing to the non-committal approach of the Centre in implementing the Supreme Court’s February 16 verdict, which ruled that a scheme for enforcing the final order of Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) must be framed “within a span of six weeks”.
Legal and water management experts have laid stress on the bounden duty of the Centre that cannot be easily abdicated, in giving shape to a mechanism that can enable enforcement of the 2007 award of the CWDT. “The Supreme Court’s order is binding on the Centre as per Article 141. So, it has to implement the verdict on the Cauvery dispute,” senior lawyer K M Vijayan told Express.
He noted that Parliament approval was not required as already a law, Inter-state River Water Disputes Act, 1956, is in force for setting up the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) and the Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee (CWRC) as per the tribunal’s final verdict.
“The Government of India has the bounden duty and Constitutional responsibility to form the CMB and the CWRC immediately without referring it to Parliament,” said A Veerappan, a water management expert.
“Section 6 (2) of Inter-state River Water Disputes Act, 1956, clearly states, ‘The decision of the tribunal after its publication in the official gazette by the Central government shall have the same force of an order or decree of the Supreme Court’,” he said.
“The Centre is bound to fall in line to implement the final order of the tribunal as per the Supreme Court verdict, though it has come against State’s interests regarding quantum of water,” observed Veerappan, who retired as special chief engineer of TN PWD and secretary of TN PWD Senior Engineers Association.
The Supreme Court on February 16, stated, “A scheme shall be framed by the Central government within a span of six weeks from today so that the authorities under the scheme can see to it that the present decision which has modified the award passed by the tribunal is smoothly made functional and the rights of the States as determined by us are appositely carried out.”
Many a feather was ruffled following the recent non-committal statement of Union Minister for Water Resources Nitin Gadkari. It has led to among the political parties here with the Opposition up in arms. Various farmers’ bodies too have voiced concern over the nonchalant attitude of the Centre even as the crops in the Cauvery Delta region are on the verge of wilting.
Frowning upon Gadkari’s non-committal approach that might result in people losing faith in the apex court, Cauvery expert Dr S Janagarajan said, “If the Government of India disobeys the Supreme Court order, it will amount to gross injustice to riparian states... It will also result in people losing faith in the judiciary.”
Expressing concern over the withering crops in the Delta region where farmers are scampering for water now, Janagarajan, who is the president of the South Asia Consortium for Inter Disciplinary Water Inter-linking Resources Studies, said, “If the Karnataka government is not abiding by the principle of federalism, it will become a mockery.”
He also stressed that allocation of 177.25 tmcft of water for Tamil Nadu will have meaning only if the monthly schedule of water release as ordered by the tribunal is followed because Karnataka has the dubious practice of discharging more water whenever its reservoirs overflow and faces the risk of flooding due to copious showers.
A general concern rising in Tamil Nadu is the BJP’s high stakes in the ensuing Karnataka polls.
“Political considerations are feared to guide the BJP-led Centre,” an expert noted. Concurring with the view, Vijayan said, “No government will do anything that goes unpopular among the voters.”
CM meeting Stalin
Chennai: In pursuance of decisions taken at an all-party meeting on February 22, the government is awaiting an audience with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In this background, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami is expected to hold discussions with DMK working president and Leader of Opposition M K Stalin on Saturday, sources said. Chief Minister had invited Stalin on Friday but the latter could not oblige due to prior commitments.