In the wake of the Centre’s “unilateral” decision to notify constitution of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC), the State government has decided to call an all-party meeting in three or four days to explore all options, including legal, for safeguarding the State’s interest in the sharing of Cauvery waters.
Meanwhile, in order to prevent further damage to Karnataka, the government has nominated Rakesh Singh, Principal Secretary, Water Resources, to the CWMA, which will have its office in New Delhi, and H.R. Prasanna Kumar, managing director of Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Ltd., to the CWRC, headquartered in Bengaluru.
“Already the Centre has done damage to the State by constituting two committees,” Water Resources Minister D.K. Shivakumar told presspersons on Monday.
At a meeting chaired by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy earlier in the day, the government consulted legal and water resources experts and decided to obtain views of all MPs from Karnataka, floor leaders of both Houses, and various party leaders. Mr. Shivakumar said the issue needs to be discussed in Parliament and all details related to the gazette notification issued by the Centre would be provided to the MPs.
The Centre issued a notification for constituting the two bodies on June 23, and the State government has rejected some of the guidelines mentioned in it. The CWMA and CWRC will include representatives of the riparian States of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry.
“We have some information about the CWMA’s meeting in Delhi on July 2. Two officials will represent the State in case the two committees conduct meetings, to prevent further damage,” Mr. Shivakumar said.
Adding that the State has lodged its protest in the letter that contained the nomination of its two officials, the Minister said they were “demanding justice to the State from the seat of power in Delhi”. The CWMA consists of nine members and the required quorum for a meeting is six, he said.
During a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 18, Mr. Kumaraswamy had conveyed that instructions from the CWMA, such as asking Karnataka to release water every 10 days and grow specific crops, would go against its interests. He had also demanded a discussion on the matter in Parliament.
The notification states that the committee would meet once in 10 days in June and October, when the Southwest and Northeast monsoons set in. The meetings would be held at least once a fortnight but the committee would have powers to convene them as often as necessary. In case of any exigency, a minimum notice of 48 hours would be given for holding a meeting.
