The Cauvery Delta Farmers Welfare Association has every reason to be happy about the gazetting of final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal by the Centre on Wednesday.
One of the persons who contributed significantly was S. Ranganathan, secretary of the association, who filed the case demanding the setting up of the Tribunal on behalf of the association in November 1983, which formed the basis for the legal battle on the issue.
“By publishing the final report in the gazette, finality has come to the Cauvery issue,” Mr. Ranganathan said and traced the history of the issue.
“We, farmers from Salem in the west down to Karaikal in the east, registered an association which was called then as ‘Tamil Nadu Cauvery Neerpasana Vilaiporulgal Vivasayigal Nala Sangam’ in June 1983. Later it was renamed as Cauvery Delta Farmers Welfare Association.
“This has been necessitated as bilateral talks held between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka for eleven years between 1972 and 1983 did not yield any result. In 1986, M.G.Ramachandran, the then Chief Minister, also gave a letter that Tribunal was the only answer to solve Cauvery issue. The case filed by us was retained. In 1990, the then Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi passed a resolution in the Assembly, demanding the formation of Tribunal.
