Chennai/ Bangalore:
The sharing of Cauvery river water between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu is heading for another flashpoint. The Tamil Nadu government will be filing a contempt petition in the Supreme Court today against the Karnataka government for stopping the supply of Cauvery river waters. This decision was taken at a meeting held to review the situation, chaired by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa yesterday.
Political temperatures across the borders shot up after Karnataka yesterday said it had stopped the flow of water into Tamil Nadu. Karnataka state authorities reportedly stopped the water supply after Supreme Court deferred hearing Bangalore's plea for a review of the decision by the Cauvery River Authority (CRA).
The apex court had earlier ordered that as per the decision taken by the CRA on September 19, presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Karnataka government would have to release 9,000 cusecs of Cauvery waters to Tamil Nadu till October 15. Obeying the court's direction, the Karnataka government started releasing water to Tamil Nadu on September 29, but on Monday night Karnataka stopped the supply of water.
Karnataka has been requesting the CRA to stay its order and keep it in abeyance till the decision was subjected to a review. The PM rejected any review of the CRA's decision.
Karnataka has said that the level of water in the Krishna Raja Sagar dam, from where water is released into Tamil Nadu was too low for more to be released.
The stopping of water yesterday has sparked off political protests including those by DMK Chief Mr Karunanidhi, PMK Founder Dr Ramadoss and MDMK Chief Vaiko.
The toughest position so far has been taken by DMK chief M Karunanidhi, who has asked the Prime Minister to take a call on invoking Article 356 and put the BJP-ruled Karnataka under Central rule. The DMK is the second-largest partner in the UPA alliance at the Centre.
Elaborating on his demand for Central rule in Karnataka, Mr Karunanidhi said, "This is not a case of vendetta, but it should be a lesson for other states in the future. Tamil Nadu's fields shouldn't turn graveyards." He also criticised external affairs minister S M Krishna, who is from Karnataka, for writing to the PM on the issue, calling it "politically incorrect".
"It is a big mistake. Someone who is a minister in the Central cabinet should be common for both states. It is wrong to work with regional considerations," Mr Karunanidhi said.
PMK's chief S Ramadoss has also asked the Centre to deploy the Army to ensure that Karnataka releases water to Tamil Nadu. He also demanded that the Centre take over all Karnataka's dams across the Cauvery, which flows through both the states. He termed stopping the release of water after the court's order "a threat to the country's integrity" and accused the Karnataka government of "instigating people to protest against Tamil Nadu".
The Communist Party of India's Tamil Nadu wing has also joined the protest. More than 500 CPI activists were arrested in Thanjavur district for trying to stop trains to mark their protest.
In Karnataka, farmers, already holding dharnas and rallies in protest, say they will continue till the CRA reviews its order. Earlier protests, mostly along the KRS dam, had turned violent.
The two states have been battling over the flow of water for decades. Tamil Nadu says its crops are dying as Karnataka is not releasing its share of waters according to the distress sharing formula evolved by the Central Water Commission. Karnataka claims it too doesn't have enough water to give to its southern neighbour.
The Cauvery Monitoring Committee is expected to meet in Delhi on October 11 during which the reports of the two central study teams that visited both the states are likely to be debated.