MYSORE: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalailthaa’s appeal to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to notify the final award of the Cauvery Tribunal and its implementation in letter and spirit has attracted vehement opposition from farmers in the Cauvery basin and the Congress party.Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah criticised the Tamil Nadu CM for her “politically motivated” statement when the review petition is before the Supreme Court. “The state government should protect the interests of our farmers.It is our right to utilise our share of water and present our case before the court,” he added.Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) president K S Puttannaiah said that Jayalalithaa’s demand for notification of the award is only to obtain undue publicity when no dispute over water sharing existed between the riparian states. The Tamil Nadu CM must remember that water levels in the Mettur reservoir levels are at comfortable levels and the case is still pending before the SC, he averred.Urging the Centre to ignore her demand, he said that the Karnataka government should clarify its stand in the apex court and appeal not to notify the controversial award. “She [Jayalalithaa] should know that the governments cannot fight against nature,” he said, urging her to desist from making such statements.Former MP and Mandya Zilla Raitha Hitharakshana Samithi Chairman G Made Gowda said that they cannot accept the award, which allocates 270 tmc to the state as the irrigated area in the state needs 400 tmc of water.The award will sound the death knell to sugarcane growers, sugar factories and rice mills in Cauvery basin, he said. The samiti has submitted a petition appeal before the Centre and the Supreme Court, requesting them not to direct water department officials to notify the final award.He asserted that the final award should be based on population, acreage under cultivation. DISPUTE TEMPERED BY CHANGING WEATHERMuch water has flown down the Cauvery since the 1991 riots. Of late, the water sharing issue has taken the backseat with water level at the Mettur reservoir standing pretty at 113 ft as against a maximum of 120 ft. The Karnataka government had abided by the Tribunal’s directions to provide its monthly share of water from KRS and Kabini reservoirs in the Cauvery basin. Farmers of the Cauvery regions are happy over the rising water levels in both the reservoirs - 95 ft at KRS (maximum level 124.8 ft) and 2264 ft at Kabini (maximum level 2284 ft). The Cauvery Water Tribunal after a prolonged 17 year hearing, pronounced the final award allocating 419 tmc to Tamil Nadu, 270 tmc to Karnataka, 30 tmc to Kerala and 10 tmc for environmental purposes, out of a total of 740 tmc. Water discharge, however, has exceeded on many occasions due to heavy downpour in Wayanad and Kodagu.Unhappy with the final award, the state government and a few farmer organisations in the Cauvery basin had filed a review petition before the SC.
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