The formation of the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) will sound the death knell to farmers in the region and seriously affect drinking water supply in four districts, said convenor of the Association of Concerned and Informed Citizens of Mysore (ACICM) M Lakshman, here, on Saturday.

He was speaking at a technical committee meeting held at the Institution of Engineers (India). Currently, 330 TMC feet of water is used for agriculture and domestic purposes in the Cauvery basin and neighbouring districts. If the CMB comes into existence, Karnataka will be forced to used only 170 TMC feet of water, which will be disastrous. If the Central government constitutes the board, a war like situation will prevail in the State, forcing the people to fight for the scarce water resource, he said.

“Until all cases in the Supreme Court regarding water sharing are disposed, the Centre must not go ahead with the CMB,” he urged.

Criticising the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, he said, the tribunal has recommended water sharing between the states, without looking into the ground realities about water available in the region. “The tribunal has ignored the legal aspects of the case and had notified the award unilaterally,” he said.

If the board comes into existence, the Krishnarajasagar Reservoir and other dams in the region will come under the control of the Central government, with tourism to these reservoirs too taking a major hit, he predicted. Apart from this, the length of 191 kilometres in the State, where River Cauvery flows will come under the control of the Centre. Drinking water projects, planned along the river banks, too will be hampered, he said.

He said, a total of 43.78 TMC feet of water is required for drinking water purposes annually, for Bangalore, Mysore, Mandya and Ramanagar districts.

While Bangalore requires 20.63 TMC feet of water for drinking needs, Mandya requires 6.35 TMC feet and Mysore draws 4.76 TMC feet. If the board is formed, only three TMC feet of water will be available, pushing the region into water deep crisis, he claimed.