Introduction
The
Cauvery basin covers a large expanse of land including major chunks in
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and also smaller areas in Kerala and
Puducherry.The 802 kilometres long Cauvery River has 44,000 km2 basin area in Tamil Nadu and 32,000 km2 basin area in Karnataka.
Tamil
Nadu is very heavily dependent on the existing pattern of usage of the
River water as it has already developed almost 3,000,000 acres
(12,000 km2) of land and any change in this pattern will adversely affect the livelihood of millions of farmers in the state.
Karnataka
during the recent times is suffering from an acute water shortage. In
fact complete Bengaluru is being supplied with drinking water from
Cauvery. Karnataka feel that it is not getting its due share of Cauvery
water and demands for a renegotiated settlement based on "equitable
sharing of the waters."
In
order to look into the matter, the Government of India had constituted a
tribunal in 1990. After hearing arguments of all the parties involved
over the next 16 years, the tribunal had delivered its final verdict on
05 February 2007.
However,
all the four affected states decided to file a review petitions seeking
clarifications and possible renegotiation of the order.The
Supreme Court set aside the review petitions and issued directions to
the Government of India on 20 February 2013, to notify the final award
of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.
Finally,
on 05 September 2016, Supreme Court directed the Karnataka government
to release 15,000 cusecs of water per day to Tamil Nadu for the next ten
days.
The
above said order lead to large scale agitations and incidents of arson
and vandalism, especially in Bengaluru and life came to a standstill. It
is estimated that the financial losses accruing due to these agitations
are around Rs 500 crore per day.
Genesis of the Cauvery River Water Sharing Dispute
The
dispute with respect to sharing of Cauvery water between Kerala, and
erstwhile princely states of Madras and Mysore dates back to
pre-independence era.The
States Reorganisation Act of 1956, which changed the boundaries and
configuration of the states made the issue even more complex.
The
State of Kerala strove hard to assert its claims on the Cauvery waters
for developing the basin resources, mainly for two Hydro-electric
projects in Kabini and Bhavani basins. However, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka
vigorously opposed the proposal.Similarly,
Pondicherry projected its traditional requirement of water for the
Karaikal area, mainly for agricultural purposes as its principal demand.
Besides, also demanding water for Industrial and drinking purposes.
Setting up of Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal
The
inter-State negotiations could not arrive at an amicable consensus on
the issue, and hence, a Cauvery Fact Finding Committee (CFFC), was
constituted by the Central Government.The
party states were taken onboard by the Committee to collect data on
aspects such as, yield of the river, adequacy of supplies, excessive use
of water for irrigation purposes etc. it submitted its interim report
in June 1972 and final report in 1973.
A series of inter-state meetings based on CFFC’s reports were held from 1974 to 1976. In 1976, a draft agreement prepared by the Union was found acceptable by all the states.
However, in the very next meeting of chief ministers’, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka backed out of the agreement.
In response to the plea of a Farmer’s Association of Tanjavur, Kerala, the Supreme Court on 24 April 1990 directed the Central Government to constitute a Tribunal under the Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956.Thus, in June 1990, the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal was constituted.
Interim Order by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal
The
Tribunal gave an interim award on 25 June 1991, favouring Tamil Nadu
and enjoining upon Karnataka to release waters to Mettur reservoir on a
stipulated pattern. Karnataka was also directed, not to increase its
area of irrigation utilising Cauvery waters.
As
per the interim order, Karnataka was required to release 205 tmcft of
water each year to Tamil Nadu. Of this quantum, Tamil Nadu was to
release 06 tmcft to Puducherry.
Karnataka’s reaction to this order was extremely adverse and led to widespread demonstrations in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
In
December 1995, Tamil Nadu moved the Supreme Court, seeking an order for
30 TMC to be released by Karnataka from their reservoirs as decided by
the Tribunal.
The
apex court ordered 11TMC to be released by Karnataka. The State of
Karnataka indicated its helplessness, and pleaded that its reservoirs
too being short of enough water to cater to the needs of farmers in
Karnataka.
Prime
Minister convened a meeting of the concerned chief ministers and based
on his discussions, gave his decision that Karnataka should make an
immediate release of 6TMC for saving the standing crops in Tamil Nadu.
Karnataka
abided by the Prime Minister’s decision by releasing water to Tamil
Nadu, but also in March 1996, approached the Cauvery Tribunal with a
Civil Miscellaneous Petition. However, the other parties were quite
opposed to the move and the petition was dismissed.
The Cauvery River Authority was constituted in 1998 to ensure proper implementation of the interim award.
Final Order by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal
The
Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal held sittings for more than 500 days,
over 17 years, and gave its final award in February 2007.
On
20 February 2013, based on the directions of the Supreme Court, the
Indian Government notified the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes
Tribunal (CWDT) on sharing the waters of the Cauvery system among the
basin States of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala and Union territory of
Puducherry.
The
final award, as recommended by the Tribunal in February 2007, makes an
annual allocation of 419 tmcft to Tamil Nadu in the entire Cauvery
basin, 270 tmcft to Karnataka, 30 tmcft to Kerala and 7 tmcft to
Puducherry.
Establishment of Temporary Supervisory Committee
In
response to the Special Leave Petition (SLP) lodged by Tamil Nadu, the
Supreme Court on 10 May 2013 issued an interim direction to the
Government of India to establish a temporary Supervisory Committee to
implement the Cauvery tribunal order till the constitution of “Cauvery
Management Board” as stated in the Tribunal order.
GoI issued the gazette notification on 22 May 2013 establishing the said Supervisory Committee.
Reaction of States to Final Award
The
people of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and also that of Puducherry hailed the
final order of the Tribunal, calling it fair and equitable.
Karnataka,
on the other hand felt that it has got a raw deal, especially, as its
water needs had grown over the years. The announcement of the final
order led to massive protests in the state.
Unprecedented Violence against the SC Directive of 05 September 2016
On
05 September 2016, Supreme Court directed the Karnataka government to
release 15,000 cusecs of water per day to Tamil Nadu for the next ten
days.
Soon
after the above directive was passed there were massive protests all
across Karnataka. Arson and vandalism was seen on the streets of
Bengaluru and on a highway to Mysuru. Vehicle with Tamil Nadu number
plates were targeted by the mob.
Nearly
40 trucks parked in a depot just 21 km from Bengaluru were gutted by
angry mobs. Similarly, Woodlands hotel in Chennai owned by a Karnataka
company was attacked and five tourist vehicles from Karnataka, including
two buses, were vandalised in Tamil Nadu's Rameswaram, allegedly by a
fringe Tamil group.
Around
15,000 policemen were deployed across the IT city. On 12 September, one
person died and another received injuries after police opened fire on
protesters in Bengaluru's Rajgopalnagar area.
The
centre also rushed ten companies comprising of 1,000 personnel of the
special anti-riot paramilitary force RAF to Karnataka. Karnataka stopped
buses from heading to Tamil Nadu and police jeeps were positioned along
the border to warn vehicles against entering that state.
Karnataka
expressed its inability to release 15,000 cusecs of water to Tamil
Nadu, owing to water shortage with the state for farming and even
drinking after poor rain this season and filed a plea to seek a
reduction in the quantum of release and restrict the release of water to
six days instead of 10 days as ordered by the SC earlier.
On 12th
September, the Supreme Court modified its order, and instead asked the
state administration in Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs of water on a
daily basis till 20 September 2016.
Conclusion
The
mythical ‘water wars’ that our elders talked about are now here for
real. The solution to water crisis is not arson and burning down of
public property, but a concerted effort by state governments synergised
by the policies articulated by the centre government to put into effect
plans for creating water reservoirs, assisted through inter linking of
rivers and above all awareness about water conservation.
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