Chennai: Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Opposition Leader Udhayanidhi Stalin has said that the Karnataka government's attempt to seek a review of the Cauvery water-sharing allocation upheld by the Supreme Court must be thwarted.
In a statement issued on this, he said, “I strongly condemn the Karnataka state government's petition before the Supreme Court seeking to ‘reconsider the Cauvery river water-sharing arrangement’ after the final order was issued by the Cauvery Tribunal and upheld by the Supreme Court, as well as its stubborn insistence that ‘we will definitely build the Mekedatu dam,’ which would harm the interests of Tamil Nadu farmers.”
As early as 1970, the Tamil Nadu government led by Karunanidhi demanded that a Cauvery Tribunal be set up to resolve the Cauvery water dispute, and the Cauvery Tribunal, established in 1990, first issued an interim award granting Tamil Nadu 205 TMC.
To prevent that award from being implemented, the Karnataka government brought in the “Karnataka Cauvery Irrigation Protection Ordinance, 1991.” The Supreme Court struck it down. After this, in 2007, the Cauvery Tribunal issued its final award. Challenging that as well, the Karnataka government appealed, and in 2018 the Supreme Court itself upheld the Cauvery Tribunal’s award with some modifications.
Furthermore, based on a 50 percent reliability level in the Cauvery river basin, after examining all aspects, it accepted the tribunal’s determination that the total usable water available was 740 TMC. Making only a slight change in water distribution, it confirmed the water allocation as 404.25 TMC for Tamil Nadu and 284.75 TMC for Karnataka.
Therefore, the Cauvery river water-sharing arrangement is a settled and final allocation. Hence, Karnataka’s request to reconsider and reallocate the Cauvery water so determined cannot be accepted.
Similarly, despite the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly passing resolutions several times against the attempt to build the Mekedatu dam, the Karnataka government’s continued stubborn insistence that “we will build the dam no matter what” is not conducive to good relations between the two states.
Already, on March 4 last year, under the leadership of then Chief Minister Stalin, a detailed request was made to the Union Jal Shakti Ministry that “an arbitration tribunal should be constituted under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 to address the issue related to the construction of the Mekedatu dam.”
On June 19, the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly also passed a resolution opposing the Mekedatu project and calling for the establishment of an arbitration tribunal to resolve this issue. The Cauvery River is the lifeline of Tamil Nadu’s Cauvery Delta region. The livelihoods of lakhs of farmers and Tamil Nadu’s agricultural economy depend on Cauvery water.
Therefore, the Chief Minister should not stand by idly while an attempt is made to reconsider the Cauvery water-sharing arrangement, which has already been legally finalized, or while the Mekedatu dam project, which could harm Tamil Nadu’s interests, is pursued. The Chief Minister must firmly oppose Karnataka’s move.
He has said that this matter should be immediately reviewed with the officials regarding the Supreme Court case, senior lawyers should be appointed, and steps should be taken to ensure that Tamil Nadu’s rights are not affected in any way. He further said, “I request that when the Prime Minister comes to Tamil Nadu, he should be urged to press for the demand to set up an arbitration tribunal to build the Mekedatu dam.”