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Refusal to allow reservoirs inspected may isolate Tamil Nadu

N Sathiya Moorthy in Chennai

By declining to accede to the request of the Cauvery Monitoring Committee team to inspect its reservoirs storing Cauvery waters, Tamil Nadu, in the ultimate analysis, may end up holding the iron spoon.

With the Congress ruling the other riparian states of Karnataka, Pondicherry and Kerala, Tamil Nadu may find itself isolated at the Cauvery River Authority meeting headed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, scheduled for September 30.

The CMC team left for Delhi on Thursday after inspecting four reservoirs of Karnataka, and is expected to submit its report to Vajpayee soon.

Tamil Nadu had declined to allow the CMC team to inspect its reservoirs, particularly Mettur, saying the Cauvery case was before the Supreme Court, making it 'sub judice'. The state Water Resources Secretary Sugavaneshwar also refused to participate in the CMC meeting in Bangalore on Tuesday saying any decision taken by the meeting may amount to contempt of court.

But some legal experts said that by declining to participate in the meeting and refusing to facilitate inspection, the Jayalalithaa government may have, unwittingly, committed contempt of court.

They argued that the current exercise of the monitoring committee, of which the Central Water Commission chairman is a part, flows from a directive of the Supreme Court directing Karnataka to release 1.25 tmcft of Cauvery water every day to Tamil Nadu, to be superseded by any decision of the CRA.

The CRA, despite Tamil Nadu's protest, had fixed the quantum at 0.8 tmcft, subject to the condition of 'adequate inflows' into Karnataka's reservoirs.

With Karnataka stopping Cauvery water release to Tamil Nadu, citing inadequate storage and non-revival of the southwest monsoon as expected, the CRA, the experts said, has been forced to review its earlier decision. The CMC is collecting data for the CRA to arrive at a decision.

The experts contended that the committee's functions were as much governed by the Supreme Court order, as Karnataka's obligation to release 1.25 tmcft first, and 0.8 tmcft a day after the CRA decided on the question.

Cauvery Water Dispute: The Complete Coverage

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