The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday passed a “unanimous” resolution urging the Centre to direct the Karnataka Government to release Cauvery water as per the directions of the Supreme Court, even as Chief Minister M K Stalin accused the neighbouring state of creating an “artificial crisis.”
"In order to protect the livelihood of the Cauvery delta farmers, who are the basis for Tamil Nadu's Agriculture, this august House unanimously urges the Union Government to direct the Karnataka Government to release water to Tamil Nadu as per the direction of the Supreme Court,” read the resolution passed by the Assembly after the BJP staged a walkout.
Stalin moved the resolution on the first day of the Assembly by detailing the steps taken by the DMK government in the past few months to ensure Karnataka adhered to the monthly water schedule as part of the Supreme Court’s final verdict on the issue in February 2018. Leaders from various political parties, including principal Opposition AIADMK, blamed successive governments in Karnataka of not honouring the Supreme Court verdict by not releasing water that “rightfully” belongs to Tamil Nadu.
‘No talks with Karnataka’
From June 1 to October 3, only 46.1 tmcft of water has been realised in Biligundlu, the entry point of the Cauvery water into Tamil Nadu from Karnataka, Stalin said. According to the monthly schedule, Karnataka should have released 123.06 tmcft of water between June and September.
During the course of the debate, Water Resources Minister Durai Murugan also ruled out talks with Karnataka, saying it would amount to “surrendering the rights” of the state as the Supreme Court verdict allotting share to each state was the outcome of decades of struggle by successive governments in Tamil Nadu.
“This is what Karnataka expects. It (talks) would mean that we are ready to pledge our rights to Karnataka,” Durai Murugan said, in response to Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami’s remarks that Stalin could have broached the topic of Cauvery water with Congress leaders during his visit to Bengaluru in July.
He also said Tamil Nadu was only demanding its “due share of water” from Karnataka and was not “begging” before the neighbouring state.
Palaniswami and Stalin also had a heated exchange of words on the issue, with the Chief Minister telling the Opposition leader that he didn’t need lessons from the latter on how to be “courageous.”
In his speech, Stalin asserted that the DMK government would "not give away even an inch of Tamil Nadu’s rights (sic)" on the Cauvery issue and sought the Union Government’s intervention.
‘Karnataka created artificial crisis’
The Chief Minister said the DMK government, ever since it assumed office in May 2021, has opened the sluices of the Stanley Reservoir in Mettur on time, resulting in record cultivation of paddy – 46.2 lakh tonnes in 2021-2022 and 45.9 lakh tonnes in 2022-2023.
“Since the dam’s storage was 69.7 tmcft on June 1 and keeping in mind the southwest monsoon, we decided to open Mettur dam on June 12. Cauvery water began reaching even the tail-end areas for the cultivation of kuruvai (short-term crop) crops. It was at this point that Karnataka created an artificial crisis. Karnataka did not release water that was due for us,” Stalin added.
The Assembly resolution comes at a time when farmers in the Delta region are worried about the withering of kuruvai and uncertainty over the cultivation of samba (long-term crop), which should have begun by September.
Despite a massive deficit in water inflow from Karnataka, the state government has released 95.25 tmcft of water for irrigating farm lands in the Delta region between June 1 and October 5.
“In this situation, we will have to get enough water from Karnataka to save kuruvai and prepare for samba in the Delta region,” Stalin said, adding that Durai Murugan has met Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat twice in the past few months to press Tamil Nadu’s stance on the issue.
‘Send a strong message’
Contending that Cauvery water is crucial not just for the food security of Tamil Nadu but also to save lives, Stalin said the DMK government will exert pressure on the Union Government to advise Karnataka to release the water.
Durai Murugan asked political parties in Tamil Nadu to speak in “one voice” like their counterparts in Karnataka to send a “strong message” to the neighbouring state. “We don’t have to plead before the Karnataka Government.
When there is a distress year, water should be shared on a pro-rata basis and the Supreme Court has reiterated that Tamil Nadu has a share in Cauvery water. Karnataka should respect the verdict. We have a share in every drop of Cauvery water,” he added.
Palaniswami asked the DMK government to “exert more pressure” on the Union Government to do justice to farmers in the Cauvery Delta region and listed the steps taken by the AIADMK governments in the past to alleviate the problems of the farmers.
“The state government should have a plan on how it will ensure water for farmers for samba and to provide drinking water to 20 districts which depend on water from the Cauvery River,” he said, adding that AIADMK MPs had in 2018 brought Parliament to a standstill over the Cauvery issue.
BJP stages a walkout
BJP MLA Vanathi Srinivasan found fault with the resolution mentioning the Union Government led by her party, saying the DMK was trying to shift blame to save Congress, which rules Karnataka. She also suggested that the resolution should propose linking rivers across the country and supporting the Centre’s Dam Protection Bill.
“The resolution is incomplete. The resolution seems to blame the Union Government. When our demand to include a few points to the resolution was rejected, we decided to stage a walkout,” she said.
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