AS The Cauvery dispute is “lingering on,” according to Munavar Basha, General Secretary of the Tamil Maanila Congress, because the state lacks a “bold” Chief Minister, comments that were taken as a jab at MK Stalin. His response came the day after the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) ordered Karnataka to release 5,000 cusecs of water per day to Tamil Nadu for the following 15 days until September 2 as a temporary measure.
He also said that despite the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Congress-led Karnataka government being alliance partners in the opposition bloc INDIA, the latter is not releasing Cauvery the water.
This is a win for delta farmers, said Basha. However, the Karnataka government will defy the directives because Tamil Nadu lacks a fearless Chief Minister. This (the Cauvery issue) developed as a result. If MK Stalin had been a more daring CM, he would have obtained the state’s water release without the approval of any commission or court. “The Karnataka government is not releasing water to Tamil Nadu, despite the fact that they (DMK) are allies in the opposition bloc INDIA. He continued, “How will Tamil Nadu voters react to the INDIA alliance?” Basavaraj Ingin, the chief opponent of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka, claimed that the panel’s decision amounted to “pushing farmers into a debt trap.”
“Recent order of CWRC to the government of Karnataka is nothing but pushing farmers into a debt trap…When there is no water in Karnataka, besides Cauvery, the question of releasing water should not have arisen…Now the government of Karnataka will have to struggle hard…,” Ingin said.
The matter has been a controversial issue between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for decades and they have been locked in battle over the sharing of water from the Cauvery river, which is a major source of irrigation and drinking water for millions of people in the region.
