A never ending dispute

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.