New Delhi:
The dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over the River Cauvery escalated today. The Tamil Nadu government has said that its neighbour is guilty of contempt of court for refusing to follow the Supreme Court's order to share water.
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The River Cauvery originates in Karnataka and meanders its way over almost 800 km in Tamil Nadu; decades-old agreements mandate that its water has to be shared with Tamil Nadu. Karnataka has four dams on the river; Tamil Nadu has two.
The topography of the region means that Karnataka can control how much water is released downstream to Tamil Nadu.
M Karunanidhi, the chief of Tamil Nadu political party DMK, has written to the Prime Minister, asking for his intervention. With 18 Lok Sabha MPs, the DMK is the second-biggest member of the PM's coalition. Mr Karunanidhi has said that its flagrant violations of the water-sharing agreement mean that Article 356 should be invoked against Karnataka and it should be brought under Central rule.
To check disputes after insufficient monsoons, the Cauvery Tribunal was set up to mediate. Later, the Cauvery River Authority or CRA, was set up for the same purpose. It is headed by the Prime Minister, and includes the chief ministers of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala. The quantity of water released depends on the rainfall and varies every year.
This year has seen a poor monsoon. Tamil Nadu approached the CRA in September asking for two TMC to be released by Karnataka every day for 24 days. Tamil Nadu said it needed the water to save its crops, and that in its four reservoirs, Karnataka has stored more than its fair share of water.
The CRA, led by the Prime Minister, asked Karnataka to release 9000 cusecs a day till October 15 - less than what Tamil Nadu had requested. Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar who was present at the CRA's meeting late last month stormed out, saying that his own state is going through a water crisis.
The Supreme Court, however, supported the CRA's decision. On September 29, Karnataka began releasing 9000 cusecs a day, but also asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision. The state government is also hoping that an expert team that has visited both states will provide a report that could lead to a new agreement.
On Monday night, the Karnataka government stopped releasing any water to Tamil Nadu saying the level of water in the Krishna Raja Sagar dam, from where water is released, was too low. The city of Bangalore, which has a population of 9 million, depends largely on the Cauvery for its drinking water needs.
In 2002, the Supreme Court had issued a contempt notice to SM Krishna, who was then chief minister of Karnataka, and had refused to release water to Tamil Nadu. Mr Krishna is now the External Affairs Minister.
A few days ago, he wrote to the PM to reconsider the directives to Karntaka. The letter has provoked Mr Karunanidihi's anger, who said that as a cabinet minister, Mr Krishna should not take sides in a dispute between two states.
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