An Authority on test

The Cauvery River Water Authority, which met for the first time amidst continuing differences between the States concerned, failed to take any significant decision.

V. VENKATESAN
in New Delhi

THE first meeting of the Cauvery River Water Authority (CRWA) took place in New Delhi on October 28. The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and attended by the Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Pondicherry and senior officials of the Union Water Resources Ministry.

The meeting was important for three reasons. First, it was the Authority's inaugural meeting since it was set up in early August after Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka rejected the August 7 accord among the parties to the Cauvery waters dispute and the Prime Minister. The effectiveness of the Authority, an unusual mechanism to settle a river water dispute, is thus on test. If the CRWA is seen to be failing in its endeavour to implement the Interim Award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal in letter and spirit, it will put the decades-old dispute between (mainly) Karnataka and Tamil Nadu back on a contentious course. If, on the other hand, the Authority is seen to be achieving its aims, it will be viewed as a tribute to the spirit of cooperative federalism that characterised the accord.

Secondly, the CRWA has begun its work at a time when there is uncertainty about when the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal will announce its Final Award. If the award is going to be delayed, it is imperative that the CRWA successfully resolve the problem of water-sharing until the Tribunal announces its Final Award, in order to enable the States concerned to be in a better position to implement the Final Award amicably.

Thirdly, the meeting was a test for the Monitoring Committee that was set up in August to assist the Authority. The Committee monitors the implementation of the Interim Award and reports to the Authority the difficulties it faces. Besides, it will assist the Authority in setting up a well-designed hydro meteorological network in the Cauvery basin along with a modern communication system for the transmission of data and a computerised control room for data processing to determine the hydrological conditions.

SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY
At the first meeting of the Cauvery River Water Authority in New Delhi, (from left) Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Jaswant Singh, Kerala Chief Minister E.K. Nayanar, Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and Karnataka Chief Minister J.H. Patel.

THE October 28 meeting ratified the rules and regulations framed by the Monitoring Committee. Beyond that, however, the Authority failed to take any significant decision or even to review its functioning. More important, the Authority could not arrive at a consensus over the methodology for sharing the water. (Ironically, the Monitoring Committee, which includes designated officers from the Centre and the States concerned, was not entrusted with the responsibility of assisting the Authority in this regard.) The Chief Ministers authorised the Prime Minister to evolve a methodology to measure water outflows. The Prime Minister will be assisted by a sub-committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary and comprising the Chief Secretaries of the riparian States. (The CRWA meeting approved a suggestion that in the event of any of the Chief Secretaries not being able to attend the meeting of the sub-committee, he or she could nominate a Secretary of the Government concerned to attend the meeting.)

The meeting was bogged down in differences between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over the point at which the water flows should be calculated. Karnataka wanted the calculation to be done at Biligundlu, the last point in that State where the river water is released from the State to Tamil Nadu and where the Central Water Commission has a gauging station. Conforming to the Tribunal's Interim Award, Tamil Nadu stuck to its preference for Mettur. In its Interim Order dated June 25, 1991, the Tribunal had directed that Karnataka should ensure that 205 tmc ft of water is made available at the Stanley reservoir in Mettur in a rain year (June-May). Karnataka's stand has been that the Tribunal has ignored the availability of 25 tmc ft of water between Mettur and Biligundlu, the intermediate catchment area exclusively under Tamil Nadu's control. Karnataka said that its responsibility should be over once water was let out at Biligundlu. It said that the fixing of any quantity should be with reference to only this point because the measurement of water at Mettur was unreliable as was evident from the flows recorded by the CWC gauging station at Biligundlu. The flows computed at Mettur are about 20 per cent lower than the flows measured at Biligundlu.

The differences between the two States were reflected in the figures given by them on the quantum of water flows received by Tamil Nadu on October 26. According to the Interim Award, Tamil Nadu ought to have received 30.17 tmc ft of water. Every month the water is to be released in four equal instalments, once in each week of the month. If in a particular week it is not possible to release the required quantum of water, the deficit thus caused should be made good in the subsequent week. Tamil Nadu complained that it had received 8 tmc ft less than what was stipulated. For its part, Karnataka claimed that it had released 16 tmc ft more than what was stipulated.

Experts point out that it is quite natural for the quantum of water released by Karnataka to increase or decrease by the time it reaches Mettur. Groundwater additions could take place between Biligundlu and Mettur, which are 100 km apart. Besides, the ground may also regenerate water by soaking. On the other hand, the quantity of the water may decrease in various ways. However, experts say that it is possible to estimate the water flow by studying the data for the past two decades or more. It is not clear whether Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have done this. And even if they have, it is not clear whether the sub-committee or the monitoring committee will look into the data to determine the release of the required quantum of water.

Kerala Chief Minister E.K. Nayanar submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister, demanding the immediate release of 40 tmc ft of Cauvery water against Kerala's claim of 99.8 tmc ft for four of its river valley projects. (The projects are the Mananthavady multi-purpose project, the Kerala Bhavani multi-purpose project, the Attappadi irrigation scheme and the Noolpuzha irrigation scheme.) Stating that Kerala contributes 147 tmc ft of water, which forms 20 per cent of the total Cauvery yield, Nayanar complained that the State's utilisation of the Cauvery waters continued to remain very low, at a little above 5 tmc ft. He urged the Centre to clear the four projects in the Malabar region, which utilise Cauvery waters. Nayanar said that the four schemes would involve the use of only around 40 tmc ft of Cauvery waters; he gave an assurance that the interests of the other States would in no way be affected by the projects in Kerala. Nayanar's demand stems from his apprehension that the Tribunal's delay in submitting the Final Award will aggravate the water worries of the Malabar region.

It remains to be seen whether the Prime Minister's appeal to the Chief Ministers to continue in the spirit of mutual cooperation and understanding that marked the setting up of the Authority will help in the speedy resolution of the Cauvery dispute.

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