: Accusing DMK leader M. Karunanidhi of giving incorrect information on the Cauvery water dispute, AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP S.R. Balasubramoniyan on Monday alleged that Tamil Nadu suffered a huge loss because Mr. Karunanidhi rejected the then Karnataka Chief Minister Devaraj Urs’ offer to give 265 tmc ft of Cauvery water to its lower riparian neighbour.
Recalling Mr. Karunanidhi’a argument that he as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu had withdrawn the case against Karnataka in the Supreme Court on the advice of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1972, Mr. Balasubramoniyan alleged that the DMK leader had conveniently suppressed the promise made by Mr. Urs. “Subsequent talks between the two States due to the intervention of Mrs. Gandhi led to Mr. Urs making the promise,” he said, adding that “but Mr. Karunanidhi refused to accept the offer”.
The AIADMK MP said the case was revived only in 1983 after the Cauvery Irrigation Farmers Welfare Association filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to constitute the Cauvery Tribunal. “The State government led by the then Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran also impleaded itself in the case. The tribunal, in its interim order, awarded 205 tmc ft water to Tamil Nadu. But Karnataka refused to implement it,” he said.
