The river Cauvery originates from
Talakaveri near Madikeri in Kodagu district of Karnataka and meets Bay of
Bengal along with the waters of Hemavathi, Yagachi, Shimsha, Arkavathi,
Lakshmanteertha, Kabani, Suvarnavati, Sanmukta, Noyil, Amravati rivers. Its flow
is broken mainly at Krishnarajasagara reservoir near Mysuru which was built by
Sir M Vishweshwarayya. He has contributed to the country in different fields
like education, industry, irrigation, town plans and India’s
5 year planning through his work ‘Planned Economy for India’
in 1934, Billigundala dam, Stanley reservoir in Mettur, and Wellingdon and
Kollidam towards the delta.
Without any discrimination the river
flows majestically and maturely by forming meanders on its path. It resolves
the thirst of people as well as plants of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and
Puducherry. Brindavana gardens near Krishnarajasagara dam, Ranganathittu bird
sanctuary, Gagana chukki and Bhara chukki falls in Shivanasamudra, Hogenkal
falls, Point
Calimere, Vedaranniyam and Kodikkarai bird
sanctuaries are the sites of attraction along the river course. Tiruchinapalli,
Tanjavur and Thiruvarur are the major cities situated on the banks of the river.
This river had no reason to be
embroiled in a controversy but the issue has remained unresolved for so many
years. There was lack of maturity between both the states, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to
fight for the water. Even though Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal was formed 23 years ago, an interim order was given
in 1991 and Cauvery River Authority (CRA)
and Cauvery Monitoring Committee (CMC)
which were formed to implement the interim order. The special leave petition
filed by both the states in Supreme Court against
the interim order prolonged the dispute further. The successive central
governments failed to provide a solution due to political pressures all these
years. February 2007 award of the Tribunal ought to have been notified in the
gazette in 2007 but it was not present. Thus five more years passed away as
tiff between both the states increased resulting into loss of lives of farmers
who were made scapegoats by politicians with vested interest.
When two kids are fighting for the
same chocolate and unwilling to compromise what can mother do? She will have to
cut the chocolate into two halves and shut their mouth. Ultimately the long
dispute has been halted by the Central government by giving a final order
through Cauvery
Water Dispute Tribunal that
Karnataka should release 192tmcft at Billigundala dam and out of this 192tmcft,
Tamilnadu will have to provide 7tmcft for Puducherry. This is the final award
and binding on both the states. With this order CRA and CMC will cease to exist and will be superseded by
Cauvery Management Board (CMB) to regulate the supply of water and Cauvery Water Regulatory
Committee to assist CMB.
First task of CMB would be to work out a formula for water sharing
during the years of water scarcity.
If both the states had understood
that “sharing of food may not fill everyone’s stomach but will definitely solve
the hunger and prevent starvation”, the enmity prevalent among people residing
in border districts of the states could have been prevented. Better yield could
have been reaped. At least now, the governments will have to develop a cordial
relation and focus on the things like utilization of available water in a best
possible way. Though Tamil
Nadu government has brought compulsory
water harvesting in every household there is a need for better measures like
growing crops which do not consume much water and they will have to check the
wastage of water. Karnataka is still lagging behind in the implementation of
compulsory water harvesting in every household in major cities like Bengaluru,
Mysuru etc. The state will also have to take measures towards economic
utilization of water for increasing agricultural output. Both the states will
have to think about utilization of grey water for toilet purposes or
agricultural purposes so that drinking water is not wasted. It is also the time
to learn and implement New
Water technology from Singapore.
Otherwise it is going to be tough time for all riparian states.
