ALL PARTIES DECIDE K’TAKA WILL FILE CAUVERY APPEAL

BENGALURU: An all-party meeting called by Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy on Saturday decided to authorise the state’s legal team to file an appeal in the Supreme Court against the Centre’s June notification of the Cauvery Water Management Authority to tackle the dispute over water sharing among three states and one Union territory in the river basin. Additionally, MPS from the state will raise the issue in Parliament.

The developments come a week after Karnataka reluctantly nominated two civil servants to the management authority, which was notified after the Supreme Court, in a ruling earlier this year, asked the Centre to announce a water sharing scheme for the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala and the Union territory of Puducherry.

Irrigation minister DK Shivakumar said the Centre had set up the management authority and a regulation committee to tackle the decades-old dispute, a decision taken “without considering our state’s views.”

“We have appointed two officers to the authority and they will go to the meeting on July 2 to present our views and raise the issues of farmers of Karnataka,” Shivakumar said.

The irrigation minister said MPS from the state had agreed to raise the issue in Parliament. “Although it is mandatory for the central government to place the scheme for discussion in Parliament, we have decided not to wait till then,” the Congress leader said. “We have also decided to appeal the matter in the Supreme Court and our legal team comprising Mohan Katarki, Fali Nariman and our advocate general will guide us through it,” Shivakumar added.

At present, after copious rains, water levels in the four dams on the Cauvery in Karnataka are much higher than the corresponding levels last year. While the Kabini dam has almost reached full capacity, the Krishnaraja Sagar, Harangi and Hemavathi have reached levels that are much higher than in the previous years.