Talks with farmers, best solution to Cauvery: Nariman

Senior counsel Fali S Nariman, who appeared in the Supreme Court for Karnataka in the Cauvery water dispute case, said on Tuesday that the farmers of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu should work out a formula for sharing river water.

He was speaking to reporters at the residence of MLC M C Nanaiah, after visiting the Raja’s Seat, a seasonal garden in the town.

There would be no dispute if both the states receive copious rains. Now that there have been problems because of poor rainfall, the farmers should settle the issue amicably through dialogue, Nariman said.

“It will naturally be delayed if they wait for a solution through the judiciary,” he said, adding that the apex court may deliver the final verdict on the issue by June or July.
The arguments by both the sides had been completed in the case, he said and had a word of praise for the method adopted by the Bachawat Tribunal in resolving the Krishna river water dispute.

Nariman recalled that Justice Bachawat had sent farmers’ leaders and politicians out during the hearing of the case and held discussions with engineers of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, before giving the Tribunal’s award.

While Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding that the final award of the Cauvery water dispute tribunal be notified in the gazette, her Karnataka counterpart Jagadish Shettar has written to Singh, saying that the gazette notification could wait until the case was decided in the Supreme Court.