Reiterating the need for the immediate constitution of Cauvery Management Board as ordered by the Supreme Court, the Tamil Nadu government on Thursday demanded that Karnataka release the stipulated quantity of Cauvery water which was vital for at least one samba crop this season.
CM’s statementAccording to an official release, Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary P. Rama Mohana Rao read out the statement of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, who is in hospital, at the meeting convened on the directions of the Supreme Court in New Delhi. Tamil Nadu PWD Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswamy attended the meeting.
Ms. Jayalalithaa said Tamil Nadu was in dire need of water and that in the spirit of the SC order, the Centre should ensure that Karnataka complied with it and released water to Tamil Nadu.
Further, Karnataka should release the stipulated quantity of water as per the Final Order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal including the backlog of 76.042 TMC as on September 26, 2016, she said. “This is absolutely vital for the survival of at least a single samba crop in the Cauvery delta which is the granary of Tamil Nadu as well as to meet the drinking water needs of a large number of towns and villages,” her statement said.
The Centre must constitute the Cauvery Management Board within four weeks as stipulated by the SC as only a professionally managed, neutral, technical body mandated by the CWDT could address the concerns of the riparian States.
The statement further said an orchestrated spate of arson and violence was unleashed on Tamils living in Karnataka, many of whom were poor labourers eking out a meagre living, after the SC order on September 5. Many large and small properties and establishments owned by Tamils were systematically targeted, ransacked and burnt. A large number of vehicles bearing Tamil Nadu registration were burnt and vandalised. Tamils living in Karnataka, and those stranded while travelling in the State, were reduced to living in fear.
Tamils had been persecuted and attacked with impunity by frenzied mobs with little or no effective restraint or action by the Karnataka authorities, she said adding that many of these instances of mob violence were deliberately fanned by various political formations and high level instigators charged with maintaining law and order, who watched the incidents with glee.
In contrast, despite the dire provocation, she said, the Tamil Nadu government took every effort to ensure that law and order was maintained and no person or institutions, commercial establishments, educational bodies, and property belonging to persons from Karnataka were affected in Tamil Nadu. Absolute restraint was observed by all sections in Tamil Nadu including farmers, the Chief Minister pointed out.
