Karnatka Minister Sees End To Cauvery Dispute This Year

Karnatakas irrigation minister, K N Nage Gowda, yesterda said the break down of talks on Cauvery river water sharing was due to failure of Tamil Nadu to come to a consensus in ending tangle, and exuded confidence that the vexed issue would be solved this year.

Participating in a panel discussion on the issue, organised by the Bangalore Reporters Guild with Raitha Sangha president, M D Nanjundaswamy and irrigation expert Shankar Rao, the minister, however, could not specify the reasons that prompted him to strike a confident note on how the dispute would end.

When specifically asked whether Karnataka was banking upon the verdict of the tribunal, which is adjudicating the dispute, the minister simply said it would be solved this year.

While Shankar Rao maintained that the century old dispute could not be solved by negotiations and adjudication was the only way to settle it, Nage Gowda maintained that Karnataka still favoured a negotiated settlement.

The charge made by Nanjundaswamy that a solution to the dispute lingered due to political reasons, as political parties wanted the issue to be kept alive, Nage Gowda disagreed with Raitha Sangha leader and declared the state government would do everything to protect the interest of farmers in the Cauvery basin.

Nage Gowda said Karnataka won its first round of battle on the dispute, when four riparian states Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry reached an agreement before the tribunal to exchange data on water flows and availability. He said Karnataka had been successful in erasing the false propaganda that the upper riparian state was unreasonable to it in the matter of sharing water, by placing truth before the people of the country.

Nage Gowda, referring to the five-rounds of talks held between Karnataka Chief Minister, J H Patel and his Tamil Nadu counterpart, M Karunanidhi, said the latter had agreed to share the water on percentage basis, but,however,retracted probably for political reasons.

He said Karnataka would not runaway from the tribunal and fight its case before it.

The minister was asked whether the state attending the tribunal proceedings would amount to violating the legislature resolutions, which called for boycott of the tribunal. He was also asked whether the government contemplated revoking the resolution in the coming session. He answered he would request Patel to convene a meeting of opposition parties to debate on the matter.