The Cauvery story - No Gain, No Loss
Place: Jujuwadi, the Tamil Nadu - Karnataka border. The army stands guard on both sides of the border to prevent any sudden untoward incident. The situation, though not as worse as the migration situation during the Indo - Pak divide, is such that people who were planning to stay in Karnataka permanently are "running" back to Tamil Nadu leaving behind their residence, filled with terror. South Karnataka is worst hit. The situation was panicky with roadblocks and the demands for closing of shops in forced support for more than a week. On 11th of February, some of the pro-Kannada activist groups called for a statewide Bandh and the entire state witnessed was silenced in a sense. It is only against the outcome of the Feb 5th final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribuna comprising Chairman Justice N.P.Singh and Members N.S.Rao and Sudhir Naraian which unanimously that gave instructions as to how the Southern states would share water from the Cauvery water.
This Tribunal was formed in 1991 by the then Prime Minister V.P.Singh. It delivered its judgement 16 years later eight days back on the 5th of February. The issue over the unrest is that Karnataka has been asked to release 192 tmcft Cauvery water that runs between Talacauvery, where the origin of Cauvery is and Bilikundulu, the part of the Tamilnadu Karnataka border where the river enter Tamilnadu. The politicians from both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have become woken up from the next moment of this was declaration. They indulged in politicizing the issue saying that grave injustice has been done to Karnataka
From the next day Karnataka turned hostile. Tamils who lived in Bangalore confined themselves in their houses. No vehicle bearing Tamil Nadu registration was allowed inside Karnataka. Similarly, Karanataka vehicles were blocked from moving to Tamil Nadu. People who had to come to Tamil Nadu from Bangalore were compelled to get down at the border&walk for 3 kms before a boarding the alternative buses to reach their destination.
Till Feb 12th - the day this article was written, this was the situation. It is very bad in Chennapatna where police protection had to be given for the houses in which tamils reside. Residents of Mysore who returned here expressed that saying the word Tamilnadu itself causes panic in regions around Mandya&Mysore.
People of both states instead of looking at the issue with the perspective that the river Cauvery is a source of irrigation handled the issue emotionally with "high sentimental" values. This is the reason the situation going bad.
Going
back
to
the
past
Historical
records
reveal
that
the
first
war
for
Cauvery
water
started
in
the
year
1146
themselves.
It
is
said
that
the
then
King
of
Mysore
started
to
build
a
dam
across
the
river
Cauvery
and
that
the
Chola
king,
against
this
move,
started
a
war
and
established
his
rule
there.
Then
in
the
17th
century,
battles
took
place
between
Madurai
and
Mysore
Kingdoms
for
the
Cauvery.
Since
these
fights
continued
even
during
the
British
rule,
there
was
an
agreement
signed
between
the
king
of
Mysore
and
Madras
presidency
in
the
year
1892.
However,
the
problem
was
not
solved
amicably
as
per
the
agreement.
Again
in
1924,
there
was
another
agreement
signed
for
sharing
the
Cauvery
river
water.
This
agreement
paved
way
to
build
the
44-tmcft
capacities
Krishnaraja
Sagar
Dam
near
Mysore
and
93-tmcft
capacity
reservoirs
near
Mettur
in
Tamil
Nadu.
In 1956, the geographical map of India itself was changed. The state boundaries were earmarked on the basis of the languages. Karnataka was born on the same basis. Before that, the southern districts of Karnataka were part of Madras Presidency. After emergence of Karnataka, the dispute on sharing the Cauvery water between the two states has become continuous one. Karnataka built 3 large dams across the Cauvery's main branches... Kabini, Hemavathy and Herangi despite objections raised by Tamil Nadu. Karnataka openly declared that it would not be bound by the old agreements. This has created tension and dissatisfaction among the Tamil farmers. Subsequently, the concerned framers come together and filed a complaint against the Karnataka government. The Govt. of Tamil Nadu filed a case against Karnataka in the Supreme Court in 1971. However, the Apex court, which felt that it is not for the good for both states to settle the issue amicably, advised both the state Governments to hold talks and arrive to an amicable settlement.