Karnataka suggests own scheme to  resolve disputes

BENGALURU:The Karnataka government has reiterated its opposition to any move on forming the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) in line with the Apex Court verdict in the inter-state river water sharing dispute. The state has suggested formation of a Cauvery Decision Implementation Committee instead. Tamil Nadu has been demanding the formation of the board.

“The contention of the Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu that Cauvery Management Board (CMB), as formulated by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, should be a part of the scheme is wholly contrary to the mandate of the judgment and law,” Karnataka Chief Secretary K Ratna Prabha stated in a letter to U P Singh, Secretary to Union Ministry of Water Resources.

The Chief Secretary, in her letter, stated that the state has prepared a scheme. “Under our suggested scheme, the Committee is to resolve disputes raised by the aggrieved state in the implementation or non-implementation of the Supreme Court’s decision modifying the decision of the Tribunal. The Committee would also determine the shares of the states in distress year.”

The letter also stated that under the judgment modifying the decision of the Tribunal, Tamil Nadu’s rights and interests are confined and limited to the right to receive 177.25 tmcft of Cauvery water at the inter-state border Biligundlu in a normal year and a proportionate share based on the ground reality in a distress year.