Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda on September 25, 2023 urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately intervene in the Cauvery river water sharing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, and urged the Centre to file a review petition in the Supreme Court.
“The Prime Minister should understand the ground realities based on which he should direct the Jal Shakthi Ministry to file a review petition in Supreme Court. Centre should also set up a five-member expert committee that is neutral and having expertise in the field of integrated reservoir operation studies. The committee should assess the water storage in all reservoirs and crop situation to assess if water release is possible,” the former Prime Minister told presspersons here on Monday.
‘Set up neutral 5-member committee’
“I had raised the issue of a five member expert committee in Rajya Sabha and I have made the same demand now. Setting up of a neutral five member committee to study the ground reality is the only possible interim measure to avoid further escalation of the conflict,” he added.
Also read: Minister urges PM to intervene in Cauvery issue
He said: “I will not speak about the Supreme Court’s order. It (current situation) is not the failure of the judicial platforms, but it is the failure of the state government. Did (former Chief Minister and JD (S) leader) H.D. Kumaraswamy had to go to check ground realities? What has happened to Water Resources department?”
The veteran leader accused the Congress party of not having interest in the Cauvery issue. “Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had once asked me to approach the court for a resolution in Cauvery issue, citing a threat to his government. He feared the unity of Tamils who could bring down the government. Mallikarjun Kharge, S.M. Krishna, K.H. Muniyappa and Veerappa Moily were in Mr. Singh’s cabinet, but none spoke.”
Gowda urges for site visits
Meanwhile, in a letter to the Prime Minister, a copy of which was released to the media, Mr. Gowda has said that the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) is taking decisions based entirely on the data supplied by the party states and their oral arguments, without making any site visits to assess the prevailing ground condition. The authority should be directed to visit the designated reservoirs in Cauvery basin once in 15 days to assess ground realities, he added.
“The authority is required to make a study for operation of all identified/ designated reservoirs in Cauvery basin in an integrated manner, but no such studies appear to have been made either by CWMA or CWRC,” Mr. Gowda said.
He added that the five-member neutral committee of experts could also be asked to devise a suitable distress formula taking into considerations such as deficient in rainfall, inflows, reservoir levels, storage positions, crop water requirement, drinking water requirements, different monsoons in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and mandatory discharges among others.
