Amid a row over Cauvery water sharing, Karnataka will file a review petition on Tuesday before Cauvery River Authority after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made it clear that only the authority can revisit the decision about the state releasing water to Tamil Nadu.
Protests against release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu snowballed in the river basin areas on Thursday, as a central team arrived in Bangalore to assess the water storage levels.
After six years, the final award of the Cauvery Waters Dispute Tribunal was notified on Wednesday. The move came after the Supreme Court rapped the Centre for delaying the decision. The apex court had set February 20 as the deadline to issue the notification.
The verdict brings an end to the 16-year-old dispute but fears of violence loom large.
The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up the Prime Minister's Office for the way it was dealing with the Cauvery water dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The Centre's lawyer told the court that he needed time to file a proper reply on this issue and the date for convening the Cauvery River Authority, headed by the prime minister, has not been fixed.
The Supreme Court on Monday made it clear that it will not interfere with the Cauvery Monitoring Committee's order directing Karnataka to provide Tamil Nadu with 12 Thousand Million Cubic of Cauvery water during December despite both warring states expressing dissatisfaction over the award.
He claimed that a couple of days ago Karunanidhi had reportedly said in Thanjavur that the award was more advantageous to Tamil Nadu than to Karnataka.
Asked whether Tamil Nadu wanted early notification of the final award, he said that after the stipulated 90 days time, the state would insist on the Tribunal for the speedy implementation of the final award.
Finding fault with the method adopted by the CWDT in calculating the award, Kerala complained that the tribunal had taken the starting point, the inequitable imperial treaties of 1892 and 1924 to which the state was never a party.
As the House re-assembled at 1600 hours, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee appealed to members to discuss the contentious water-sharing issue in a dispassionate and responsible manner.
The actor also said that the Centre will face TN wrath if it fails to set up CMB.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday held consultations with Congress leaders from Karnataka on sharing of Cauvery waters with Tamil Nadu during which they told him about the "grim" situation in Karnataka.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's efforts to resolve the Cauvery water-sharing row between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka failed on Wednesday with both states refusing to accept the ruling and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa declaring that the state would move the Supreme Court seeking justice
The Tribunal had on Tuesday last refused to hear clarificatory applications filed by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry.
As protests against Cauvery water release to Tamil Nadu continued in the district on Sunday, the local administration banned entry of tourists inside the Krishnaraja Sagar Reservoir complex till February 13 as a precautionary measure.
Jayalalithaa, recuperating at a corporate hospital in Chennai, said she could not attend the meeting as she was hospitalised.
The mind-boggling figure is spent in the legal battle seeking rights over the river before the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal in New Delhi.
The Cauvery Supervisory Committee on Wednesday rejected Tamil Nadu's demand for its share of water saying it was not feasible, given the deficit in inflows and storage level in reservoirs in Karnataka.
"Why can't the two Chief Ministers sit together? Give it a try, it is not impossible," a bench of justices D K Jain and Madan B Lokur said.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and her Karnataka counterpart Jagadish Shettar will meet in Bangalore on Thursday in an effort to find a solution to the Cauvery water sharing row. The meeting comes after the Supreme Court on Monday asked both the chief ministers to meet and arrive at an amicable solution to the "sensitive" water dispute.
Supreme Court dismisses a plea for reconstitution of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and paves the way for the proposed visit of two of its members to the river basin.
This is the second time Jayalalithaa is resorting to a fast on the Cauvery issue.
Some demonstrations have been held in parts of the state but the overall situation is peaceful.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Friday said her government was making all efforts to uphold the rights of the state on the Cauvery water-sharing issue and hoped it would get justice from the Supreme Court.
Stepping up pressure on the Cauvery water issue, the Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday said it was "absolutely" essential on the part of the Centre to put in place a monitoring mechanism to ensure that the state gets its rightful share of water during the year.
The apex court directed the two states to ensure there is no violence, agitation, destruction and damage to properties following its order on Cauvery water sharing and asked them to maintain peace, calm and dignity for law.
Karnataka on Thursday decided to file an 'original suit' and a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court challenging the February 5 final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal besides seeking clarificatory orders from the tribunal.
Vijay, who spoke on the fishermen issues in nearby Nagapattinam, sported a green headgear and addressed farmers' grievances and sought an answer from CM Stalin.
Lambasting the Karnataka government for "stopping" the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, key United Progressive Alliance ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on virtually demanded imposition of Central rule in the neighbouring state so as to "teach a lesson to stone-hearted" regimes on inter-state issues.
Cyclone Ditwah exits Sri Lanka after causing widespread destruction and over 120 deaths, heading towards the Indian coast. Heavy rains and high winds are expected to continue.
Ticking off the Centre for 'flouting the law' for the last five years, the Supreme Court On Monday set a February 20 deadline to notify Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal award, saying it has no discretion or choice but to do so.
With Karnataka barely being able to manage the demands of Tamil Nadu on the Cauvery water sharing issue, Pondicherry has now sought its share of water too. On Tuesday, Pondicherry asked Karnataka to release 1,000 cusecs of water immediately.
If the Cauvery water-sharing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu -- dating back to 1892 between the erstwhile Madras Presidency under the British Raj and the princely Mysore state -- has exploded again into a war, the discord between Karnataka and Goa over dividing the water of the Mahadayi river simmers under the surface.
The SC ruled that Karnataka will now have an enhanced share of 14.75 tmcft water per year while Tamil Nadu will get 404.25 tmcft, which will be 14.75 tmcft less than what was allotted by the tribunal in 2007.
As reports of tension prevailed on the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border over the Cauvery water row, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi on Monday said the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu should not give room to turn the feeling of "bitterness" among people of the states into "enmity".
Considering that the Supreme Court has now included two, rather three, new variable to the tribunal's findings, it could imply that whenever the current order comes in for review, the two states could raise specific issues flowing from them, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
This article traces the history of the DMK's fight for state autonomy, beginning with C.N. Annadurai's advocacy in the 1960s and culminating in M. Karunanidhi's resolution in the Tamil Nadu Assembly in 1974. The article highlights the key figures involved, the arguments presented, and the impact of the Rajamannar Committee Report.
For the second time in her political career, Jayalalithaa, along with her supporters, would observe fast in front of Valluvar Kottam, a memorial for Tamil saint-poet Tiruvalluvar in the heart of Chennai.
The recent 'revelation' by TN fishers freed by Sri Lanka after they had paid up Lankan rupees 50,000 each in fines, that their hair was tonsured in prison and they were forced to remove their garments other than the underpants, and were also made to clean toilets, as if with vengeance, has touched a raw nerve this time, just as another issue or issues had done it ahead of the Jallikattu protests, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The petition stated that the proposed project would affect the flow of the river Cauvery considerably and will severely affect the irrigation in Cauvery basin of Tamil Nadu.
