On a
day when the Karnataka government filed an
appeal before the Supreme Court and the
monitoring committee against an earlier order
directing the State to release 15,000 cusecs of
water from the Cauvery to Tamil Nadu for 10
days, several political parties in the neighbouring
state called for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s
intervention to resolve the issue.
Speaking to reporters, Karnataka Minister for
Law and Parliamentary Affairs T B Jayachandra
said the monitoring committee is likely hear the
matter on Monday and hoped that Karnataka
would get justice.
But several political leaders in Tamil Nadu
pinned their hopes on the Prime Minister.
“Former PM Deve Gowda reportedly said that
when he took up the Cauvery issue with Modi,
the latter expressed his inability to look into it
saying the matter was before the Supreme
Court. If this is true, then the Prime Minister
must know that he has a role to play and
perform so that the differences between
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are not widened,”
said former Union Minister and TMC leader G K
Vasan in Salem.
He said the Prime Minister should see to it that
the Supreme Court order is implemented in a
proper manner. “He also has the responsibility to
set up the Cauvery Management Board.”
On the Tamil Nadu front, he said Chief Minister J
Jayalalithaa should change her approach of
depending purely on legal recourse and writing
letters to the Prime Minister. “Instead, solutions
to important problems affecting livelihood of the
people of the State must be found by holding all-
party meetings,” he said.
In Namakkal, CPI (M) State secretary G
Ramakrishnan also urged the government to
convene an all- party meeting.
The VCK requested to the Prime Minister to find
a permanent solution to the water-sharing row.
“The Karnataka CM has already convened an all-
party meeting. Now, he has asked the PM to
convene the meeting of the Chief Ministers of
southern states. The VCK welcomes this stand,”
party leader Thol Thirumavalavan said in Erode.
He also urged Jayalalithaa to convene an all-
party meet and lead a delegation to New Delhi.
“The movement of vehicles from Tamil Nadu to
Karnataka has been badly hit due to the
protests,” he added.
The TNSTC bus service from Erode district to
Karnataka via Sathy was hit for the sixth
consecutive day on Saturday. Buses plied till the
border at Thalavadi via Thalamalai.
Meanwhile, there was something to cheer for
Delta farmers. The inflow into the Mettur dam
surged to 15,070 cusecs with water released
from Karnataka starting to reach the State in full
measure. Water level of the dam rose by 1.23 ft
in a single day with the improved inflows taking
the water level to 77.97 ft.
The flow in the river has not receded as
monitored in Biligundulu and it continued to get a
higher inflow, the officials said.
Across the border, ire over release of water
continued. Biocon Ltd managing director Kiran
Mazumdar Shaw, who was trolled for her
‘Bandharulu’ tweet during the Karnataka bandh
on Friday, said she was pained by the outrage
expressed against the innocuous tweet. “My
tweet has been distorted and misinterpreted, and
used to hurl abuse and shame me, which is most
unfair. I am shocked to see such negative vile
being hurled at me from different quarters,” she
said.
“As a proud Kannadiga, I have worked tirelessly
over decades in Bengaluru, not just as a
businesswoman creating several thousands of
jobs, but as a proud and responsible citizen,
investing my personal time, energy and funds for
the welfare of the people of Karnataka. I have
utmost love and respect for my fellow citizens,
especially farmers, and I am aware of the
hardships faced by them due to acute water
shortage and I believe Karnataka’s needs from
Cauvery water must be addressed first. However,
I am of the view that bandhs are not a solution
to this grave issue,” her open letter said.
Not just the Cauvery, issues related to the
Siruvani dam were also the highlight of the day
as almost 100 members from various political
parties and farmers associations organised a
human chain protest in Coimbatore demanding
that the Kerala government dropped its plan to
construct a gravity dam across the Siruvani, a
sub-tributary of the Cauvery.
During the protest, they condemned the Union
government for giving approval for inspection of
the spot where check dam construction is
planned and urged the Tamil Nadu government
to act legally to get its rights through the court
as in the case of the Cauvery water sharing.
“Kerala government has purchased bricks, sand
and other construction materials from the traders
in the Tamil Nadu for constructing dam across
the Siruvani,” said Thanthai Periyar Dravidar
Kazhagam secretary K Ramakrishnan.
“The Tamil Nadu government should initiate
action to stop sale of construction materials to
Kerala,” he said.
“We will lay siege to the Tamil Nadu-Kerala
border. By next week, we plan to stop the
movement of products, including vegetables, to
the neighbouring state,” he said.
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