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SC Directs Karnataka To Release Cauvery Water To Tamil Nadu Or Face Consequences

THE Supreme Court of India on Thursday directed the Karnataka government   to give four thousand million cubic feet of water from the Cauvery River to its neighbouring state Tamil Nadu.Hearing the case related to the constitution of Cauvery Management Board, the nation’s apex court said Karnataka must release water in April-May and warned the state government of “consequences” if it did not comply with the order, Republic TV reported quoting the order. The SC Bench also pulled up Attorney General KK Venugopal when he submitted to the Supreme Court that the Cauvery Management Board draft has to be Okayed by the Union Cabinet. The draft isn’t approved yet because the prime minister is in Karnataka campaigning for the upcoming Assembly election in the state. The apex court then directed the Centre to file an affidavit on the issue and scheduled the next hearing for 8 May. In April, the Supreme had Court asked the Centre to formulate and submit the draft Cauvery management scheme before by 3 May and directed the authorities of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and other stakeholders to ensure peace in the  states. A Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said it had considered the award of Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) while deciding the water share of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry in its judgment. The Bench, also comprising Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice DY Chandrachud, said that its judgment has to be complied with all the stakeholders. The court said the authorities are required to ensure peace till it peruses the draft scheme and finalises it for proper distribution of Cauvery water. Meanwhile, as sharing water of the Cauvery River has become a bone of contention between the people of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, especially between the farmers of the two neighbouring states, one   senior BJP leader in Tamil Nadu has questioned the double standard and hypocrisy of the Congress and the DMK on the issue. Tamil Nadu’s DMK and other opposition leaders are critical of the Narendra Modi headed  Government  accusing it  for the delay in constituting the Cauvery Management Board as per the February 16 directive of the Supreme Court of India .“Hypocrisy and double-standards are the hallmarks of the Congress and the DMK. Both the parties are demonstrating all over Tamil Nadu blaming the Centre for not constituting the CMB. The Congress has become a laughing stock all over the country for the pathetic situation it finds itself now,” said C P Radhakrishnan, Chairman, Coir Board and former MP from Coimbatore said though Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 22 arguing that the constitution of the CMB would be unconstitutional, neither the Congress nor the DMK has bothered to speak anything against the letter.“Our Government is strongly opposed to the formation of Cauvery Management Board because such board is not constitutional and the Supreme Court has not directed any mechanism,” Siddaramiah had said in the letter he sent to the Prime Minister. But the opposition parties in Tamil Nadu which include the Congress, the DMK, the Left and the Dalit outfits VCK are maintaining silence about the stance of the Karnataka government led by the Congress, said Radhakrishnan. He is a former Tamil Nadu president of the BJP as The Congress continues to stage demonstrations along with the DMK attacking the Centre over the delay in constituting the CMB,” said CPR.S Thirunavakarassar, president of the TNCC had said in a statement in Chennai that no one could blame the Karnataka Government for its stance on the Cauvery issue. “The Modi Government at the Centre is responsible for all the problems faced by the country. The Congress Government in Karnataka cannot be faulted over the Cauvery row. It is the Central government that has failed to set up the CMB despite the Supreme Court   order,” said Thirunavakarassar. The TNCC president had also said that he would speak to Siddaramiah and Congress president Rahul Gandhi if Karnataka violated the Supreme Court directive on CMB. Though it is more than a week after Siddaramiah wrote to the Prime Minister about the CMB, the TNCC president has not mentioned anything about the letter or the Karnataka chief minister’s open violation of the Supreme Court verdict, said Radhakrishnan.

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