Nationalise rivers & natural resources, Duvvuri advocates

Kakinada: Citizen’s Initiative secretary Duvvuri Subrahmanyam opined that all the rivers in the country should immediately be nationalised. In the wake of demands for separate States all over the country, the Centre should take the responsibility to nationalise all rivers and distribute the waters to the States on the basis of population and cultivable land, he demanded.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Duvvuri advised the Centre to respond to this matter urgently in the present circumstances.

He quoted the examples of Gali Janardhan Reddy who took advantage of the unclear border between Andhra and Karnataka for his own advantage, the issue of gas that is produced in Andhra Pradesh but transported to Gujarat, Bayyaram mines and issues raised by Telangana people over the proposal of the State government to export VSP steel.

Such problems have arisen not only between two States but all over the country, he said.

If it wants to prevent misuse of national wealth and disputes between States, the Centre should take the responsibility of nationalising not only water resources but also mineral and natural resources and distribute such resources for national purposes, he suggested.

Earlier, in the case of the dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka over the Kaveri waters, the Supreme Court itself ruled that riparian issues should be taken over by the Centre, he reminded. Even if the River Water Linking Scheme by Dr Kanuri Lakshmana Rao should be implemented, there is no other alternative other than nationalising rivers, he observed.

If any subject has to be transferred from the State List to the Central List there should be two-thirds majority in Parliament and half the States should ratify. The Centre should try to achieve consensus between States and various parties in Parliament for this, he said.

While regionalism is gaining upper hand over nationalism, regional parties and sub regional parties over national parties, rivers should be nationalised before water disputes create problems, Duvvuri said. Because rivers are at present a State subject, the States at the lower end are facing a lot of inconveniences from the States at the upper level, he said. The flouting of rulings by the tribunal too has become habitual, he pointed out. In the provision of Babli gates and raising the height of Alamatti dam, the flouting of the rulings of the Supreme Court and the bitter experiences of Andhra Pradesh are all well known, he said.

Lack of official machinery to supervise the implementation of Supreme Court rulings is the main reason for this, he added.

Even for linking the rivers, the issue of rivers should be included in the Central list, he said. Apart from the permissions and objections from Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, internally States like Bihar, Kerala, Panjab, Goa, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal are objecting to the linking of rivers, he reminded. The nationalising and inter-linking of rivers might inspire a spirit of nationalism among the people, Duvvuri said.