Tn, Karnataka Fail To Settle Cauvery Dispute
Talks between the Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to resolve the century-old Cauvery water dispute broke down yesterday with the two states taking opposite stands on leaving the matter to the Cauvery Water Tribunal.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi told newspersons yesterday that both the governments had decided to leave the issue to be settled by the disputes tribunal. On the other hand, his Karnataka counterpart J H Patel said his government would not budge from the state Assembly's resolution to boycott the tribunal.
Patel, who left the meeting venue in a huff, without talking to waiting media persons, said later at a press conference at the hotel where he was staying that his government was firm in its view that the dispute could be settled only through negotiations and not by adjudication. Karunanidhi ruled out further talks, saying that the Karnataka government had not adopted a give and take policy to resolve the issue.
Patel said that although both the governments had agreed to share the available water on the basis of percentage, Tamil Nadu's insistence on a particular figure had led to the failure of the talks. He did not elaborate further. Karunanidhi said the talks between the two chief ministers were held under the directions of the Supreme Court only to work out the interim arrangements for release of water from Karnataka to help the current samba (long-term paddy) crop in Tamil Nadu. However, in the course of yesterday's talks, some wider areas other than the specific terms of reference of the apex court were mooted and explored. But talks on these points could not lead to any agreement and it was felt best to leave it to be settled by the adjudicatory process in progress before the tribunal, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister said.
Patel said his government had an open mind on further talks, but if Tamil Nadu refused to talk, what can we do?. He said the Supreme Court's direction to P V Narasimha Rao, the Prime Minister at the time, to initiate negotiations between the chief ministers of both states to settle the dispute had been the starting point for the negotiations. Patel said he would report to Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on the outcome of yesterday's talks. He said his government would consult legal experts on the future course of action. While Karunanidhi said he believed that only a tribunal award could bring a lasting solution to the dispute, Patel said: If we have to go to the tribunal, why should we talk? we believe that mutual dialogue can bring a solution to the problem and not adjudication.
Yesterday's talks were the fifth round of discussions between the two chief ministers after the Supreme Court, through its order on July 30 last year, advised them to work out an interim arrangements for release of water by the Karnataka government to help the long-term samba paddy crop.
At the first round of discussions in Chennai on August 5 last year, both the chief ministers agreed to resolve the issue to the benefit of the farmers of both the states.
The second round of talks were held in Bangalore on September 4 and the third and fourth rounds in New Delhi.
However, Karunanidhi had said that a solution to the problem could be found only within the framework of the tribunal and urged the Centre to appoint a new chairman of the tribunal as Justice Chittatosh Mukherjee had resigned from the post. The Centre recently appointed Justice N P Singh as the chairman.