In Mandya and Mysuru, sweet treat for officials

Mysuru: The Supreme Court judgement on the Cauvery dispute has received mixed response from the people of the Cauvery catchment area, especially farmers from Mandya and Mysuru for whom the river is a lifeline. While the farmers distributed sweets in Srirangpatna, Maddur, Mandya, Pandavapura and Srirangpatna as the state will now have to release 14.5 TMC of water lesser to neighbouring Tamil Nadu and they can expand their irrigation area, officers of the Krishna Raja Sagar dam (KRS), including its executive engineer, Basavarajegowda rushed with bouquets and sweets to the house of Cauvery Hitharakshna Vedike head, Madegowda to celebrate the verdict.

Calling it a victory for the people’s movement, Mr Madegowda said the Vedike would meet for a detailed discussion on the judgement and decide its future course of action.

Head of the state federation of farmers organisations, and state sugarcane growers’ association, Kurbur Shanthakumar too welcomed the judgement.  “The fact that the Lok Sabha has been empowered to form a Supervisory Board is a big relief, because the MPs, aware of  public opinion and the ground reality, can help draw up realistic rules for setting it up, ” he observed.

Others were less enthusiastic. “This is just temporary relief. Only the framing of a national water policy can provide a  permanent solution to inter-state water disputes, which  must be kept out of the purview of the law and courts as nature is unpredictable. The states involved must share water and distress on the basis of mutual understanding based on the amount of rain received,” said farmers’ leader, Nanjandegowda.