Cauvery is not flowing; emotions are : double speak

It rained somewhat heavily ~ very unusual to have rains in these parts in February…… Cauvery is not exactly flowing but the emotions are … perhaps Court and politicians have selected a time, not ripe for harvesting.    The season for kuruvai  also known as "short-term" in Tamil is over; so also the woes of delta farmers of Tamilnadu whose livelihood  is  extremely dependent on abundant flow of water on the Cauvery river.

As the February 20 deadline set by the Supreme Court for notification of the final award of the Cauvery River Water Disputes Tribunal nears, Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar is gearing up to take counter measures to try and possibly delay it.   At Hubli, yesterday [17.2.13], he reiterated that he would lead an all-party delegation to meet the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi on Monday to urge him not to notify the final award.  He is quoted as stating  “It is not possible for Karnataka to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu “for now” as the state is facing drought and acute drinking water scarcity,’.

In a double talk, he also stated that the delegation, comprising ministers of Parliament, Union ministers and opposition party leaders, would try to convince Dr Singh not to notify the final award.  He claimed that     “In spite of these problems, our government has released water to Tamil Nadu honouring the Supreme Court order. But for now, it is not possible for us to release water under the present condition”.

At one point he waxed eloquence that the matter could be resolved amicably but on Dec 8 he rejected the decision of the Cauvery Monitoring Committee to release 12tmcft water to Tamil Nadu, as “arbitrary” and said he would challenge it before the Cauvery River Water Authority. Karnataka commenced release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu from February 9 complying with the Supreme Court order directing it to release 2.44tmc to save standing crops.  The release triggered protests by farmers outfits.  Karnataka has moved the Supreme Court seeking review of its order citing depleted storage in its reservoirs.

It is also fact that no Government has thought of any proactive measures in helping out the farmers or strategise agriculture with lesser dependence on river water….

Right now, the media is concentrating more on Afzal Guru as there are reports that he wrote to his family, asking it to be bold and proud of the stature he would attain by his execution. !!! and that garners more space…. Also there is more about the writ petition moved in the Supreme Court on Saturday on behalf of the four associates of the slain forest brigand Veerappan — whose mercy petitions were rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee — to stay their execution.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

18^th Feb 2013.