Cauvery dispute: SC orders must be based on reality: Basavaraj Bommai

Bengaluru: Former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday said the Supreme Court's verdict water dispute should not be based on the orders of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) but on ground reality.

He told reporters here that the apex court, after hearing arguments of both the states, has upheld the orders of the CWMA. It was unfortunate that Karnataka has been directed to honour the orders of the Authority for the next 15 days.

The state government must once again review the prevailing situation in the Cauvery basin. The orders of the CWMA were not final. It was not correct on the part of the apex court to say that it was not connected in this issue. It was important to calculate the water level in Tamil Nadu along with the water storage level in the dams in the Cauvery basin.

The former CM pointed out the state should have filed an appeal before the Supreme Court when the CWMA pronounced its first orders.

Karnataka moved the apex court only after releasing water to Tamil Nadu twice. It looks like the SC fully depended on the CWMA. The attitude of CWRC and CWMA is not right. The CWMA must see the ground reality but it was issuing orders based on the statistics, he maintained.

Bommai said the state government says it would file a review petition in the SC but Tamil Nadu had already utilised the water illegally. This must be brought to the notice of the Supreme Court.

The state government must not only say that there was not enough water in the Cauvery basin dams but mentioned that Bengaluru which is an international City, was flocked by people from everywhere. For this, a separate quota of water has been fixed for the State capital. This point must be made aware of to the apex court, he stated.

The Tamil Nadu State would witness rain in the return monsoon whereas the rainy season has almost ended in Karnataka. This must be explained to the apex court. The state government now should fight at least to preserve water for drinking water purposes. The BJP did not want to do politics in this issue but the reality was that the crops were withering. The farmers must be compensated by Rs 25,000 for each acre, Bommai explained.