Janata Dal (Secular) Member of Parliament, HD Deve Gowda, has earnestly called upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to step into the ongoing Cauvery water-sharing imbroglio between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Speaking at a press conference held in Bengaluru, Deve Gowda shared a copy of a letter dated September 23, addressed to the Prime Minister, outlining his concerns regarding the persistent disputes and discord between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu concerning the release of Cauvery waters from Karnataka's reservoirs to Tamil Nadu.
He expressed, "I have made an appeal to the Prime Minister about the prevailing situation. In my letter to the Prime Minister, I wrote that the Jal Shakti ministry should file a review petition and a committee of experts should be sent to Karnataka to study the water and standing crop situation."
Deve Gowda fervently anticipates that the Prime Minister will give voice to this critical issue and undertake decisive action to prevent further adversities, particularly in Karnataka.
He underscored the water crisis by revealing that, as of September 23, the collective storage in all four reservoirs within the Cauvery basin in Karnataka stood at a mere 51.10 TMC (thousand million cubic feet), while the requisites for sustaining crops and providing drinking water amounted to a substantial 112 TMC.
Deve Gowda, in his letter, articulated his concerns about Tamil Nadu's pursuit of additional water releases, surpassing the 40 TMC already provided. He deemed this demand not only unjust but also contrary to the principles of fairness and natural justice, emphasizing that the provision of drinking water is a constitutional fundamental right and enjoys the utmost priority in the National Water Policy.
In light of these pressing issues, Deve Gowda proposed the appointment of an independent external agency, free from affiliations with the involved states or the central government, well-versed in Integrated Reservoir Operation Studies. This agency, he insisted, should be tasked with conducting comprehensive assessments of all identified and designated reservoirs within the Cauvery Basin with immediate effect.
The findings of these studies, according to Deve Gowda, should be presented to the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) and Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) for deliberation, in consultation with the concerned states. Moreover, he suggested that this agency should assume responsibility for formulating a suitable distress formula, one that factors in elements like rainfall deficits, inflow patterns, reservoir levels, storage capacities, agricultural and potable water requirements, variations in monsoons experienced by Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, actual utilization across various categories, and obligatory discharges to be made by Karnataka to Tamil Nadu.
Deve Gowda further recommended the establishment of a five-member committee of experts devoid of affiliations with the involved states or the central government. This committee, he proposed, should conduct on-site assessments of reservoirs in both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, serving as a source of immediate relief by reporting not only to the CWMA but also to the Supreme Court.
Emphasizing the dire water scarcity situation in Karnataka, Deve Gowda lamented that the state, as the upper riparian entity within the Cauvery basin, has perennially been obligated to meet the downstream state's demands.
He also highlighted that Karnataka had experienced its lowest August and September rainfall in the past 123 years, adding gravity to the predicament.
