‘Authority not an independent body’

The Cauvery Water Management Authority proposed under the Centre’s draft scheme for the sharing of the river water, was not an independent authority, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) general secretary Vaiko claimed here on Saturday.

An attempt was being made to create an impression that justice had been done to Tamil Nadu. But the State had been deprived of its rights, as many of the “protection measures” offered in the final verdict of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal had been removed under the draft scheme, he said.

“A section-by-section comparison of the final award of the tribunal and the draft scheme shows that Tamil Nadu has been betrayed. It is a conspiracy by the Centre, and the Supreme Court has gone along with it,” Mr. Vaiko said.

He contended that as per the final award of the tribunal, Karnataka could not build dams. This protection had now been taken away. The tribunal proposed a Cauvery Management Board, along the lines of the Bhakra-Beas Management Board. The Cauvery Water Management Authority had been divested of independent powers, and if any problem were to arise (in the implementation of the scheme), the Centre had to be approached, Mr. Vaiko said.

The only way out now, Mr. Vaiko said, was to take the issue to a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court. But the Tamil Nadu government was deceiving itself and the people by claiming that justice had been done to the State, he said.