Troubled waters – the tale of a river

Cauvery water crisis in Karnataka heated up since last week. The agitation began from the outskirts which poured into the heart of the Silicon city throwing the city out of gear. A rough estimate says a whopping Rs 25,000 crores of rupees was lost due to the agitation.  All e-com majors based in the city downed their shutters and pleaded helplessness in what can only be termed as a pure man-made calamity of epic proportions. Neighbouring Tamil Nadu got relief from its water shortage through an order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court. Its leaders have not been making much noise except to express their angst at the agitation in Karnataka which resulted in arson and large-scale rioting. However, the farmers and a slew of political parties  in Tamil Nadu have called a state-wide bandh on September 16, 2016.  As can be expected, more violence and arson with vested interests taking law into their hands. Sharing of river water resources unfortunately has been a contentious issue in adjoining states and the feud between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka is a century-old with no resolution in sight. All that has been done even since independence 70 years ago is just tinkering and political brinkmanship without a thought for a long-term resolution of the dispute which surfaces every few years creating mayhem and disaster. Imagine having a curfew in most parts of the buzzing IT city. It shocked the entire nation that a peaceful state suddenly was on fire. Water and language among a few other reasons can be very emotive and that is what Karnataka witnessed over the past week. That the state government appeared to just look on as a mute spectator has been commented upon. This will have political implications when the state goes to the polls in a couple of years time. The Hon’ble Supreme Court passed the order directing the Karnataka government to release 12,000 cusecs daily of Cauvery river water till September 20, 2016. Of course, nobody can go against the orders of the apex court and the state government had to abide by it and release the water. The two states had enjoyed relatively good neighbourly relations for decades except for an odd agitation through passions inflamed by language chauvinism or Cauvery waters. One official said: ‘We pointed out the amount of water Tamil Nadu has in its reservoirs and their highly superior ground water position, but the court wanted to go purely by the division of water made by the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal’. Water is the elixir of life and it goes without saying that river water sharing among neighbouring states should not cause so much of violence and rancour. There is a water shortage but given the good monsoons, with proper rain water harvesting much of the suffering could have been mitigated. When the Karnataka state government moved an application citing law and order problems, the bench said ‘agitation in spontaneity or propelled by some motivation or galvanised by any kind of catalystic component, can never form the foundation for seeking modification of an order’. Now it is over to the Supreme Court again when the bench of Justices Dipak Misra and U U Lalit , hears the matter on September 20. Till then wait with bated breath. (The writer is a Senior Producer with ABP News)