Former IPS officer C. Chandrashekar said here on Friday, September 1, that inter-linking of rivers held a plausible solution to the river water sharing in an distress year.
He was speaking at a seminar organised by the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) on ‘’Cauvery Dispute: Current Crisis and Possible Solution’’ here on Friday.
Mr. Chandrashekar who has authored a book ‘’Kaveri Dispute: A Historical Perspective’’, said the country was plagued by flood and drought simultaneously year after year and lakhs of crores of rupees have been pumped to mitigate the disaster impact since independence. But there has been no solution to address the issue and hence, inter-linking of river waters could be a possible answer on managing the water resources, he added.
Mr. Chandrashekar said India harboured 20 per cent of the world population and was also the most populous country but it was endowed with only 4 per cent of fresh water resources. ‘’With a growing population, four per cent of water resource and shrinking agricultural land mass due to its conversion for non-agricultural purposes, the country also had the challenge of addressing food security and hence, inter-linking of rivers was a possible solution to address the challenges including water sharing dispute,’’ he added.
The ILR project would have cost around ₹57,000 crore more than two decades ago but was not pursued and as even the Supreme Court has issued a directive, it was binding on the government to implement it, said Mr. Chandrashekar.
Mr. Chandrashekar said the Cauvery water crisis was not merely a dispute between the two States on sharing the natural resources but was a reflection of the failure of the country’s ability to harness its water resources optimally.
On the question of distress formula on sharing of water during a lean year, Mr. Chandrashekar said distress formula was not conceptually clear and it was yet to be determined as at what stage of the distress formula would kick in. Besides, Tamil Nadu is a beneficiary of north-east monsoon and hence there were grey issues that were yet to be addressed, he added.
Another probable solution was for the farmers of the Cauvery basin to approach the issue as members of one large family. He said setting aside the politics behind the Cauvery issue, stakeholders could thrash out a mutually agreeable formula as farmers, said Mr. Chandrashekar.
Earlier, the former IPS officer gave a historical perspective of the Cauvery issue. Badagalpura Nagendra of KRRS said that the current situation in Cauvery basin of the State was dire and let alone saving the standing crops, there were concerns over drinking water scarcity in the days ahead. There was also an interaction in which farmers aired their views on the issue.
