New Delhi: The Central government on Tuesday expressed its intention to follow the Supreme Court order directing it to submit by May 3 a draft scheme for water-sharing between the riparian states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. This comes in the wake of widespread protests all over Tamil Nadu demanding the constitution of a water management board. The apex court had pulled up the Centre for not submitting a draft implementation scheme for sharing Cauvery water between the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry.
“We have already started internal discussions with experts on the possible scheme now that the Supreme Court has given us flexibility. We will submit it before the deadline,” the New Indian Express quoted “top sources” in the government as saying.
The apex court asked the Centre to ensure that a comprehensive draft was ready by May 3, which would then be shown to all participating states before reaching a final decision.
The Centre had previously sought a three-month extension on the deadline fixed by the Supreme Court (March 29), citing the upcoming Karnataka state elections. Constituting a water management board at such a time would cause “massive public outrage, vitiate the election process and cause serious law and order problems,” it said in its petition to the Supreme Court.
The bench, comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud, expressed surprise that the Centre had not followed its orders and pulled it up for not showing enough resolve to carry out the judgment that it had worked so hard to deliver.
The court was hearing a contempt petition filed against the Centre by Tamil Nadu on March 31, two days after the deadline given by the apex court to the Centre for constituting a mechanism for sharing Cauvery water, in the form of a Cauvery Management Board (CMB), expired.
The bench had pronounced its judgment regarding the sharing of Cauvery waters between the three southern states and Puducherry after appeals by the states against the Cauvery award given by the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal in 2007.
According to this order, Karnataka was to get 14.75 TMC more than what the tribunal allotted it, while Tamil Nadu’s allocation was reduced by the same amount. The final allocation for the states were: Karnataka 284.75 TMC, Tamil Nadu 404.25 TMC, Kerala 30 TMC and Puducherry 7 TMC. The allotments for Kerala and Puducherry remained the same as directed by the tribunal.
Widespread protests in Tamil Nadu
Protests demanding the constitution of the CMB have steadily increased all over Tamil Nadu since the beginning of the month. Politicians, actors, farmers and other citizens have objected to the Centre’s delay in setting up the board.
Politicians, both from the ruling as well as opposition parties, have been at the forefront of these protests. Opposition party DMK has asked people of the state to wear black shirts and sarees during the prime minister’s visit to Chennai on Thursday, when he will attend the diamond jubilee of the Cancer Institute, among other things.
AIADMK party members, led by chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswamy, observed a hunger strike on April 3, while opposition parties led by DMK declared a state-wide bandh on April 5.
Seventeen farmers buried themselves neck-deep in the dry Cauvery river bed in Srirangam to display their plight and demand the board, while farmers and activists formed human chains in Trichy with similar demands.
Many members of the Tamil film industry, including actors Rajnikanth and Kamal Haasan, took part in a silent protest against the Centre’s failure to set up the CWB. They also demanded that the Sterlite copper plant in Tuticorin be shut down.
People in Chennai also launched massive anti-IPL protests, primarily targeting at the CSK-KKR match at M.A. Chidambaram stadium in Chennai. Protestors alleged that the game was being organised to divert attention from the raging Cauvery protests across the state. Activists from many groups, including Tamizhaga Vazhivumurai Katchi and Naam Tamizhar, staged a road blockade at a junction of two arterial roads in the city, resulting in massive traffic snarls. Agitators staged protests near the stadium, but the police retained control of the event. Some fans were roughed up on their way into the stadium, according to NDTV. Some protesters who hurled shoes during the practice session were detained by the police.
Long journey
The journey towards a CMB has been a long one. The original recommendation came from the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal in 2007; 11 years later, the board is yet to be set up. Previously, in 2016, the Centre argued that the Supreme Court could not order the constitution of the board as per Article 262 of the constitution and Section 11 of the Inter-State Rivers Dispute Act, 1956.
The Centre claimed that the tribunal’s suggestion to set up a water management board was only a “recommendation” and did not have to be followed. The attorney-general, representing the Centre, added that the setting up of a board was an exercise for the legislative, not a judiciary.
In the same hearing, the senior counsel appearing for Karnataka warned that Karnataka may not be obliged to release the quantity of water that the court asked it to, as it did not necessarily reflect reality.
Karnataka has a prior record of openly defying orders regarding water release given by the court. In September 2016, the court had ordered the state to release 6,000 cusecs to Tamil Nadu for a week. The Karnataka government, however, decided to wait till the state legislative assembly met before implementing the order.
Politicians in Karnataka have echoed the sentiments expressed by the Centre on the constitution of the board, fearing they will lose control over the river. Now, various organisations in the state have called for a state-wide bandh on Thursday to ensure that their voices are also heard.