It should have said, ‘we don’t have water to give’: Minister
As the Bharatiya Janata Party and its strongman in Karnataka, B.S. Yeddyurappa, blamed the four Union Ministers from the State of “doing nothing” to protect its interests on the Cauvery issue, a senior Cabinet Minister pooh-poohed the charge and claimed that the whole thing happened due to the Karnataka government’s bungling before the Supreme Court.
When there was a deficit of 41 per cent in the combined storage in the four reservoirs (Krishnaraja Sagar, Harangi, Kabini and Hemavati) during the four-month period (June-September) this year, how could Karnataka agree before the apex court that it was ready to release 10,000 cusecs to Tamil Nadu from September 12 to 19 as a “goodwill gesture and on an ad hoc basis”, the Minister asked.
The State should have clearly explained to the apex court the effects of monsoon failure. Karnataka should have told the Supreme Court that “we don’t have water and we are not in a position to release it to Tamil Nadu”.
The Minister — who spoke to The Hindu on condition of anonymity by stating that “as we are part and parcel of the Union Cabinet we cannot say anything openly on this sensitive issue” — added that the four representatives of the State (S.M. Krishna, M. Veerappa Moily, M. Mallikarjun Kharge and K.H. Muniyappa) were doing their best to highlight the real picture in Karnataka and how the present water-level had caused concern over irrigation and drinking water supply.
Some of the Ministers (among the four) even met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Water Resources Minister P.K. Bansal and took up the cause of the farmers. “We need no certificate from anyone on how we are we protecting the State’s interests. We want to be fair and we want justice for farmers/people,” he said. The BJP had no right to criticise the Karnataka representatives in the Cabinet, he added.
‘The four Union Ministers are doing their best’
‘State should have clearly explained its difficulty’
