Cauvery Board can ensure equity in water sharing: Swaminathan

The Cauvery Water Management Board, which the Supreme Court had directed to be set up, can help ensure greater economy and equity in sharing the water of the river, eminent farm scientist M S Swaminathan said here today.

Such a management board, which should include eminent water technologists and agriculture specialists, can help ensure greater economy and equity in sharing Cauvery water, he said.

Towards such equitable sharing, it is important to pay attention to demand management and supply augmentation, he said.

"All the Cauvery basin states should reduce the demand for water by introducing cropping patterns requiring less water and by adopting drip irrigation and other water saving techniques," he said in a statement.
 

Less water requiring cropping system should pay attention to crops which are in demand in the market and which can enhance the income of farmers per unit of water, he said.

On supply augmentation, the noted scientist referred to the Supreme Court pointing out that there was scope for Tamil Nadu to benefit from its underutilized aquifer.

"One method of augmentation is mandatory rainwater harvesting. Since Tamil Nadu is a rain shadow region and water becomes available largely during the Northeast monsoon period, there is scope for water harvesting and storage."

He said the Cauvery Management Board can give urgent consideration to various opportunities for both demand management and supply augmentation so that the reduced water allocation does not affect the productivity and income security of the numerous small farm of Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu could set-up a Water Security Board inorder to ensure maximum benefits from the Cauvery Management Board proposed by the Supreme Court, he said.

The Supreme Court yesterday delivered a crucial verdict to resolve the decades-old dispute between southern riparian states over Cauvery river water sharing by hiking Karnataka's share by 14.75 tmcft and reducing Tamil Nadu's quantum while compensating it by allowing extraction of 10 tmcft groundwater from the river basin.

The court said the issue of drinking water has to be placed on a "higher pedestal".