Kumaraswamy: Cauvery panels must visit basin before deciding on water release

Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy on Friday urged members of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) and the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) to visit the Cauvery basin in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to understand the ground situation before directing Karnataka to release water.

The CWMA had recently directed Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu, a decision that has triggered protests in parts of Karnataka.

The Cauvery water-sharing issue is a long-standing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The CWMA and CWRC were set up to implement the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, as modified by the Supreme Court.

Speaking to reporters in Hassan, Mr. Kumaraswamy, a former Chief Minister of Karnataka, criticised what he described as decisions being made "from air-conditioned rooms in Delhi". He said the committee and the authority should have visited the fields and assessed the prevailing situation. He also said the Karnataka government should have insisted on a field visit before arriving at any conclusion.

Mr. Kumaraswamy argued that the committee should first ascertain whether Tamil Nadu was seeking water for drinking purposes or irrigation. He said the Cauvery basin reservoirs currently have about 55 tmcft of water. Of this, nearly 10 tmcft is dead storage, and another 10 tmcft has to be reserved for environmental requirements. He added that around 30 tmcft is needed to meet Bengaluru's drinking water requirement alone, and questioned how the drinking water needs of the rest of the basin would be met.

He also noted that the CWMA had assumed that nearly 12 tmcft of water would flow into the reservoirs in the coming days. He asked on what basis such an assumption had been made, and whether it would be sufficient to fulfil drinking water needs across the basin even if it materialised.

On the protests against the CWMA's directions, Mr. Kumaraswamy said the BJP, the JD(S)'s coalition partner, had already launched an agitation in Mandya with support from farmers' organisations and JD(S) workers. "We cannot remain silent and accept the CWMA's directions. Protests are inevitable," he said.

Referring to the all-party meeting convened by the Chief Minister, he said governments had traditionally held such meetings whenever the State faced a Cauvery water crisis. He maintained that Karnataka should refuse to release water if Tamil Nadu was seeking it for irrigation purposes. "Meeting drinking water requirements should be our top priority," he said.

Mr. Kumaraswamy also asserted that the Cauvery issue should not be politicised. He pointed out that Karnataka had released water to Tamil Nadu whenever there was adequate storage, and claimed that more than 900 tmcft of water had flowed to the neighbouring State over the last four to five years.

On the drought situation, he alleged that the State government was indifferent to the hardships faced by farmers. He said the Chief Minister had spent four days in the national capital awaiting the party leadership's approval for Cabinet expansion, while there were reports of farmer suicides and families migrating in search of livelihood due to the drought.

JD(S) Legislature Party leader Suresh Babu, MLC S.L. Bhoje Gowda, C.N. Balakrishna, Shravanabelgola MLA, and Swaroop Prakash, Hassan MLA, were present at the press conference.