Cauvery water rocks assembly

State government to file review petition in SC; Opposition seeks change of lawyers

Karnataka government’s move to release Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu for the past two days rocked the assembly on Monday with the Opposition Congress and JD(S) charging the BJP government of failure to handle the issue properly.

The opposition Congress and JD(S) staged walkout separately over the issue and Speaker K G Bopaiah had to adjourn the house for a short period in the afternoon when the members did not allow the house to continue with the regular business.

Defending the government’s move to release water, Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar informed the Legislative Assembly that 2,000 cusecs of water has been released to Tamil Nadu from Saturday. The water was released to comply with the Supreme Court’s order to release 2.44 tmc ft of water to Tamil Nadu. The decision to release water was taken keeping in mind the state’s interest in the long run, he said.

Siddaramaiah, leader of opposition said, the government’s lawyers have failed to plead the state’s case properly in the Supreme Court and even demanded the replacement of eminent lawyer Fali S Nariman, who is representing the state on the river dispute with Tamil Nadu for many years.

Water Resources Minister Basavaraja Bommai said water was released after Nariman told the government to first comply with the court’s order of releasing 2.44 tmc ft to Tamil Nadu, before filing a review petition in the Apex Court.

Siddaramaiah said the recent judgements of the court have gone in favour of Tamil Nadu even when the neighbouring state had made false claims on the requirement of water. He alleged that the BJP government has completely failed to argue the case properly in the Supreme Court and lost the legal battle.

“There are better lawyers available to argue our case in the court. You better replace Nariman,” Siddaramaiah said.

Over 45 towns and cities, including Bangalore and Mysore, would face severe drinking water crisis in March and April months following release of water to Tamil Nadu.

He even suggested that the state should have faced contempt charges before the Supreme Court and not released water. “When we don’t have enough water to drink in the state, Tamil Nadu is seeking water for their crops,” he said.

Shettar said he would be ready to quit if the Cauvery water dispute gets resolved by sacrificing power. “I am not a person sticking to power. Power comes and goes. But protecting interests of the state and farmers is of utmost importance for us” he said.

H C Balakrishna of the JD(S) also opposed the release of water from Krishnaraja Sagar Reservoir to Tamil Nadu and demanded compensation for sugarcane growers who had lost standing crops due to lack of water.

Shankarlinge Gowda of the BJP shouted slogans against the government and staged a walk out in the Assembly along with the Congress and JD(S) legislators.

Earlier, Bommai said, water has been released from Saturday onwards to comply with the Supreme Court’s order. “Advocates representing the government advised us to release water to Tamil Nadu before filing the review petition. Advocates would file the petition in the court by Monday evening,” he said.

As of today, the water storage level in the Cauvery basin reservoirs was 13.2 tmc ft, including 6.7 tmc ft in the KRS, he said.

The Opposition has been “politicising the Cauvery water issue” and the Congress too had released water in February 2003 during the S M Krishna regime. The Congress and JD(S) have no moral right to criticise the government for releasing water, he added.