‘Stop Cauvery Water to TN or Resign’-Poojary warns CM

‘Stop Cauvery Water to TN or Resign’-Poojary warns CM

“Stop the flow of Cauvery River Water to Tamil Nadu within the next 24 hours, or resign from your post”- Janardhan Poojary warns CM Siddaramaiah

Mangaluru: As always Senior Congress leader Janardhan Poojary has is signature sentence like “You Should Resign immediately” during his press meets- and this time coming harsh on CM Siddaramaiah on the Cauvery River Water issue, Poojary has urged CM to resign from the post within 24 hours, if he fails to stop the supply of Cauvery water to TN.

During the press meet held at Mangalore Press Club, Janardhan Poojary coming down harsh on the Cauvery Supervisory Committee headed by Union Water resources Secretary Shashi Shekhar and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, ” The Cauvery water dispute, which has been a bone of contention between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for decades now, has again led to violence in the region after Supreme Court pronounced its order. The court has directed Karnataka state government to release 15,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu for the next 10 days in an attempt to save the samba crops. But what about the people of Karnataka, especially the farmers who are depending on this water for their cultivation. If such a large amount of water is released to Tamil Nadu, I am sure that not only other parts of Karnataka, even Karavali will face the drought soon”

“Why is our CM afraid of TN Chief Minister Jayalalitha? Why is so much concerned about the people of Tamil Nadu, instead of taking care of his people here? We need to protest against Jayalalitha and the TN government. Is our CM ready for that? Why are you keeping quite on this issue, Mr CM? Our CM has utterly failed to handle the Cauvery River water issue. Our government has failed to take the required phase in appealing or discussing water sharing. Just because the Supreme Court has given the order to release 15,000 cusecs of Cauvery River water to TN, our CM should have also thought about his people here, especially the farmers. Our CM and Irrigation minister have not responded positively. This is a constitutional crisis, and the water should have not been released until the study by experts at KRS dam is taken up and report is given. But unfortunately our CM acted quick, and due to this there has been vast violence and property damage in Karnataka and TN” added Poojary.

Poojary further said, ” It feels sad to watch on TV, that Hotel Woodlands in Tn owned by a DK entrepreneur has been ransacked very badly, and many vehicles bearing Karnataka license plated also damaged by miscreants in TN. Don’t we have unity in India? Don’t we love and friendship among people of different states? Then why all this violence due to the bad decision made by our political leaders. The formation of a discussion formula was not done and the SC verdict stating that there should not be any problem for drinking water is total injustice to Karnataka. With so many students coming from different parts of the country to this education hub, where lots of water is required, then why are we supplying our water to a different state. Also a institution in Moodbidri having nearly 15, 000 students, who also need large volume of water, but sadly even the institution Chairman has raised his voice against this Cauvery Water issue”.

“Without wasting much time, I urge CM Siddaramaiah to take quick action and stop the flow of Cauvery River water to TN within the next 24 hours, or give resignation to his CM post. While TN is allegedly storing the water for its crop needs, the people in Cauvery basin in Karnataka are heading for a drinking water crisi. Any continution of water release would put state’s farmers and general public, including DK in the Cauvery basin in severe distress. The State is already witnessing widespread agitation which is threatening to escalate. Any more release of Cauvery water to TN will be disastrous to all of us. CM should act fast in order to avoid more widespread violence and agitation” added Poojary.

Congress members Kallige Tharanath Shetty, Arun Coelho, Vijayakumar Shetty and former MCC deputy mayor Purushottam Chitrapur were also present on the dais during the press meet.

As per sources, it is learnt that The Cauvery water dispute has influenced the politics of the region for long with parties stirring emotions of people as the river has a deep cultural, economic and religious significance for them. This, in turn, led to a situation where the public opinion became more rigid with time making it even difficult for the political outfits to find a common ground. What is the dispute? The Cauvery basin covers a large expanse of land including major chunks in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and also smaller areas in Kerala and Puducherry. Initially, the dispute was between Karnataka and TN but later Kerala and Puducherry also entered the fray. The issue dates back to 1892 when an agreement was filed between Madras Presidency and Mysore for arbitration but led to a fresh set of disputes. Later, attempts were renewed to arbitrate between the two states under supervision of Government of India and second agreement was signed in 1924.