CAUVERY RIVER WATER
CAUVERY RIVER WATER
After protracted
legal proceedings for years, on 16/2/2018
(Friday), the Supreme Court finally gave the following award (not to be changed
for 15 years) in the Cauvery River Water Sharing dispute:
|
S.No. |
State |
Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal (CWDT) award - February 5, 2007 |
Supreme Court’s
final award - 16.2.2018 |
Remarks |
|
1. |
Tamil Nadu |
419 tmcft |
404.25 TMC |
-14.75 TMC |
|
2. |
Karnataka |
270 TMC |
284.75 TMC |
+14.75 TMC |
|
3. |
Kerala |
30 TMC |
30 TMC |
No change |
|
4. |
Puducherry |
7 TMC |
7 TMC |
No change |
A disquieting
prediction by some experts is that the next and Third World War, if any, would
be for water. Reasons are obvious and explicable requiring no over-emphasis. A simple
thought of a war would be dreadful, horrifying, and nightmarish in the present day world. Isn’t it?
Be that as it may,
a typical case in India is the Cauvery River Water sharing dispute, particularly between the two major Southern states, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. After the old Cauvery
river water sharing agreements expired in 1974 - one signed in 1892 and another
in 1924 - between the erstwhile Madras Presidency and the Princely State of
Mysore, there were decades of negotiations between the stakeholders which
unfortunately yielded no tangible results. Tamil Nadu filed a legal case in the Supreme Court of India which appointed the Cauvery Water Disputes
Tribunal (CWDT). After hearing all the share-holders, the Tribunal gave its award. On appeal/review preferred by Karnataka, the apex court issued a modified award as detailed above. Still, one issue or the other is cropping up in sharing the water especially during deficit monsoon year(s)
exactly what the order of the CWDT is all about.
Come
September/October of a deficit monsoon year, surcharged and ruffled emotions
would run high in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for Cauvery river water. Remember, it took
17 long years for Tamil Nadu to get the Cauvery Tribunal’s final award. Needless
to mention here, the case itself is more about sharing of water in a
deficit-rain-year to save standing crops in both states. Just because a state
happens to be a downstream one, in this case, Tamil Nadu, it cannot be denied justice
by the upper riparian state (Karnataka). Now there is a legal order of the apex court for release of determined
quantities of water by Karnataka to other stakeholders every year as per the formula enunciated by the
Tribunal.
Tamil Nadu-Karnataka
river water sharing row has now started attracting even international
attention. Perhaps, nationalization of all rivers and equitable/pro-rata distribution
of the country’s entire water sources by the Central Government amongst the
states is perhaps the best way out! Like a power grid, we can have grids of common national resources too to be shared by states besides water.
States should adopt
accommodative gestures especially on sensitive issues like inter-state river
water sharing. Why can’t we try a barter system as a component in all
inter-state issues? States can share whatever they have and/or they are able to produce as a 'quid pro quo'. The Central Government can don the role of a facilitator in many areas. It is not to overlook the legal
forums. Courts which are ‘pleno jure’ render ‘Fiat Justitia, ruat caelum’ (let justice be done even if the heavens were to fall). We
are proud of our distinguished and esteemed justice delivery machinery and mechanism
including the High Courts and the Supreme Court of India.
People-to-people
especially farmers-to-farmers contacts should take place frequently so that good relationship between different linguistic states particularly among their peasant communities can be maintained and further bolstered up. People of one state should increasingly understand and empathize with the people of other states better.
Indian states, known for ‘Unity in Diversity’, should fortify the sense of unity, inter-dependence,
co-existence, emotional integration, and adjustment culture to the mutual benefit of each other. After all, Union is strength.
It is worthwhile recalling Rajaji dubbing the idea of delimitation of states in India post-independence on a linguistic basis as a primitive idea, not worth implementation. One could now see his prophecy turning out to be true with some Hindi speaking states opting for dichotomy, examples being Uttar Pradesh-Uttarakhand, Bihar-Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh. The Telugu speaking erstwhile Andhra Pradesh also got bifurcated into A.P.-Telangana. The myth bubble that language is a binding and uniting factor has thus been burst.
Let us set up good paradigms for settlement of inter-state and intra-state issues by fostering better understanding, harmony, goodwill, etc., so that all issues are thrashed out cordially. Let neither the natural nor man-made barriers eclipse the great ethos of sorts of India. We are subjects of the Great Bharat which has stood the test of times and kept the flock together for centuries. Let us bring back that past glory. Let us all work for our common interests, mission, vision, and aspirations, and through them, a better shared future.
(R.SAMPATH)
16/05/2018
Comments
Post a Comment