A delegation of farmers from Karnataka led by Kurubur Shanthakumar of the Karnataka Jala Samrakshana Samithi met the Chairman of Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) S.K. Haldar and Union Minister for Water Resources Gajendra Singh Shekawat and expressed their opposition to the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu at a time when Karnataka was reeling under drought.
The samithi members met Mr. Haldar in his office in New Delhi and submitted a memorandum complaining about the alleged injustice meted out to Karnataka over the CWMA’s decision to release water to Tamil Nadu.
The members of the delegation explained the distress faced by farmers on account of poor rainfall in Karnataka.
The farmers delegation also called on Mr. Shekawat at his home office on Akbar Road in New Delhi, where a memorandum was submitted to stop the “unscientific” decision to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu without saving water even for drinking purposes to the farmers of Karnataka.
The farmers expressed their disappointment over the directions to release water to Tamil Nadu even after the farmers, who were gripped by drinking water shortage in the State, held a peaceful Bengaluru bandh and Karnataka bandh.
The CWMA’s decision to release water to Tamil Nadu amid the drought conditions in 195 taluks of the State had led to widespread anxiety among the people of the State over the dipping water levels in the reservoirs across Cauvery river, he said.
The memorandum also sought for a distress formula as a solution to share the available waters when monsoon fails so that farmers of the riparian States do not face difficulties to cultivate their crops and meeting the drinking water requirements.
The farmers also called for constitution of an independent CWMA on the lines of Central Election Commission comprising irrigation experts, farmers’ representatives, meteorology experts and irrigation department officials from all the States involved in the dispute.
Mr. Kurubur Shanthakumar also urged Mr. Shekawat to immediately permit Karnataka to build a balancing reservoir at Mekedatu so that the additional waters can be stored and released to Tamil Nadu whenever there is a distress situation.
