Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Ananth Kumar on Saturday said there was no proposal before the Centre to set up a Cauvery Management Board to ensure implementation of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal award on water-sharing among Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.
Dismissing such reports as “rumours,” the Minister told presspersons that he had spoken to Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti and he had been assured that there was no such proposal.
He said Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah met him, Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation G.M. Siddeshwar and discussed the issue. “We conveyed to him that all BJP representatives in Parliament will work for the welfare of the State.”
Mr. Ananth Kumar said Karnataka MPs would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday and inform him that formation of such a board would not be ideal, as appeals on the award were pending in the Supreme Court.
The former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said setting up such a board would adversely affect the State’s interests, particularly supply of drinking water to Bangalore city.
“As three BJP MPs have been elected from Bangalore they have the additional responsibility of protecting the interests of people,” he added.
‘Rumours’Meanwhile, Mr. Sadananda Gowda termed reports on the constitution of such a board as mere “rumours”.
Speaking to presspersons here, he maintained that no Cabinet note on the formation of such a board had been issued. “The Union Ministers from Karnataka have checked and found that no such note has come before the Cabinet; there is no need to panic,” he said.
He also suspected that the rumour was being triggered as part of a “political conspiracy” by some people who had not been “politically benefited”.
He maintained that the Prime Minister would take a decision only on the basis of the principles of natural justice without bias to anyone.
He said the Karnataka unit of the BJP and its Ministers were committed to protecting the State’s interests.
