Cauvery Water Dispute: Maanila Congress takes a jibe on MK Stalin, says, ‘Tamil Nadu needs a bold CM’

AS Munavar Basha, the General Secretary of the Tamil Maanila Congress on Tuesday slammed MK Stalin and alleged that the Cauvery dispute continues unresolved due to the absence of a bold Chief Minister in the state.

Basha's response followed the recent decision of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) to instruct Karnataka to provide Tamil Nadu with 5,000 cusecs of water daily for the next 15 days until September 2nd.

Speaking to ANI, Basha said, "This is a victory for delta farmers. But at the same time, the Karnataka government will not obey the instructions because in Tamil Nadu we don't have a bold Chief Minister. That is why this (the Cauvery issue) happened. Had he (MK Stalin) been a bold CM, he would have got the water released for the state without any commission or court's direction..."

Also Read: Cauvery river: The long-winding legal dispute

“They (DMK) are allies in opposition bloc INDIA, but Karnataka government is not releasing water to Tamil Nadu. How will the people in Tamil Nadu vote for the INDIA alliance?” he added.

In Karnataka, the principal opposition Bharatiya Janata Party leader Basavaraj Ingin said the panel order is nothing but "pushing farmers into a debt trap".

Basavaraj Ingin, the principal opposition leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka, stated that the directive from the panel is essentially forcing farmers into a cycle of debt.

Also Read: Cauvery row shows rising threat of water struggle in India

"Recent order of CWRC to the government of Karnataka is nothing but pushing farmers into a debt trap...When there is no water in Karnataka, besides Cauvery, the question of releasing water should not have arisen...Now the government of Karnataka will have to struggle hard," Ingin said.

For many years, the dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over sharing water from the Cauvery River has remained a contentious matter. This river serves as a crucial source of both irrigation and drinking water for a substantial population in the region.

To address this issue, the Indian government established the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) on June 2, 1990. The CWDT's purpose was to arbitrate conflicts among Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Puducherry concerning the allocation of water resources.

The Cauvery River basin is a transboundary region that begins in Karnataka and traverses Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry before eventually flowing into the Bay of Bengal. The entire geographical area that contributes to the Cauvery Basin spans 81,155 square kilometres.

Among this, the portion of land that feeds water into the river covers approximately 34,273 square kilometres in Karnataka, 2,866 square kilometres in Kerala, and the remaining 44,016 square kilometres in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.

(With inputs from ANI)