New Delhi: A crucial meeting of the Cauvery River Authority convened on January 13
by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was deferred due to lack of quorum.
While Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and Karnataka Chief Minister S M
Krishna were present, the Chief Ministers of Kerala and Pondicherry were not there.
The Prime Minister used the occasion to hold consultations with Jayalalithaa and
Krishna to arrive at an "informal understanding" on the distress-sharing formula,
Urban Development Minister Ananth Kumar told reporters.
Failure of monsoon, water for standing crops and also for drinking were among other
issues that figured during the meeting, Kumar said, adding water scarcity was the
worst in the last 30 years.
The meeting was convened in a bid to find a distress sharing formula on the Cauvery
water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The meeting was called in the wake of the contrasting stands taken by the two
riparian states with Tamil Nadu insisting on its share of water to save the withering
crops in the delta region and Karnataka expressing inability in view of severe
drought conditions in the state.
The Prime Minister, who was in Bangalore early this month, had maintained a
neutral posture on the issue stating that both the states faced distress situation.
Krishna has already written to the Prime Minister for a CRA meeting at the earliest
and expressed the state's inability to maintain the authority's earlier order of
releasing 0.8 TMC of water daily to Tamil Nadu.
In his letter, Krishna also pointed out that Karnataka was not in a position to
ensure water release to Tamil Nadu as per the interim award of the tribunal as
water level in its reservoirs has depleted.
The last meeting of the CRA scheduled on November 29 was abruptly put off
following the inability of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister to attend it due to
indisposition. Kerala Chief Minister A K Antony also could not attend the meeting.
A minimum quorum of three Chief Ministers is required for holding the CRA
meeting, to be chaired by Prime Minister. Chief Ministers of four riparian states –
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Kerala are members.
The Supreme Court had asked the Prime Minister to convene the CRA meeting and
resolve the dispute.
PTI
Cauvery row
