Karnataka must release Cauvery water: Farmers

THANJAVUR: Farmers of the Cauvery delta districts, by and large, welcomed the move of  Chief Minister Edappadi K.Palaniswami to take a delegation to Bengaluru and ask his counterpart for Cauvery water to save the samba crop.

S.Ranganathan, secretary of the Cauvery delta farmers welfare association, welcomed the move and said, "Though late, better late than never. Karnataka should view this on humanitarian grounds and not as a dispute. Three wettings are necessary now for 80 per cent of the standing crop and Karnataka can release 15 tmc ft in instalments - 8 tmc ft first and the rest a little later."

Karnataka should not be rigid in its stand. Even if it considers this as a dispute, it knows that it has to release water on a pro-rata basis monthly from its total of 192 tmc ft of water, as per the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddharamaiah can depute a delegation to see how serious the issue in Tamil Nadu. Small and marginal farmers will be the worst hit if the crop is lost and farm labourers have no source of income. If water is released from Kabini it will take 10 days for water to reach Tamil Nadu and hence Karnataka should consider our demand immediately and meet our chief minister," said Ranganathan.

P.Shanmugham, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam affiliated to the CPI(M), also welcomed the move by the Chief Minister but said that it was late. It would have been timely if he had taken this decision a little earlier. However, we want water now to save the standing samba crop and welcome the move, he told Deccan Chronicle over phone. Sami Nadarajan, district secretary of the Sangam, also said that the move was welcome, though belated.
V.Durai Manickam, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam affiliated to the CPI, said that the Chief Minister should take an all party delegation to Bengaluru.  "When our Chief Minister made such a request earlier, the Karnataka Chief Minister flatly refused to release water. Now it is better if an all party delegation is taken to Bengaluru by our Chief Minister to demand water. The situation here is serious and there is danger of losing the entire samba crop in one week if the crops are not watered. "This should have occurred to our Chief Minister earlier. Only after rail rokos organised by farmers' associations and opposition parties, did it dawn upon him to meet the Karnataka Chief Minister. We have been demanding water for the past one month," Durai Manickam said.
However, Sundara Vimalanathan, secretary, Thanjai district Cauvery farmers protection association, said that the move was very late and nothing tangible would come out of this.