Cauvery water dispute – UPSC

Again, South India is flowing on the water of Kaveri River. There have been violent demonstrations in Karnataka on the latest judgment of the Supreme Court. The protesters set fire to many trains in Bangalore and attacked government vehicles.

The Cauvery River, which starts flow from Karnataka state and goes into the Tamil Nadu state, has led to bitter disputes for decades. Cauvery water dispute occurs because of the improper distribution of water in the middle of Karnataka state and Tamil Nadu state. The Karnataka authorities told the court that their state does not have enough reserves to share.

Cauvery water river controversy – Dispute

The controversy is about the water of the river Cauvery, which originated in Kodagu district of Karnataka. About seven and a half hundred kilometers, the river falls under the borders of Kushalnagar, Mysore, Srirangapatna, Tiruchirappalli, Thanjavur, and Mayiladuthurai, in the Bay of Bengal in Tamil Nadu.

Cauvery water flowing map

The issue within states

The struggle between the Indian states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for how the waters of the Kaveri River (locally known as Cauvery) are distributed occurs since the mid-nineteenth century. on the other hand, recently, the situation has turned violent in an unprecedented way – so much so that the authorities have decreed a curfew in Bangalore, the capital city of Karnataka.

After the one-day strike in Bangalore on September 9, destructive unexpected protests in many parts of the city ended with two protesters killed. One died when police opened fire on him, and the other died after trying to escape the onslaught of a police baton while protesting during the curfew, also known as Section 144 of the Indian Constitution.

Cauvery water issue in karnataka

 Image Source: Hindustan Times

Other people were injured; numerous shops and dozens of vehicles were damaged or burned down, not to mention 30 to 45 buses with Tamil Nadu registry that were burned.

So far, 350 protesters have been arrested on charges of violence and causing damage to public and private property. About 700 riot control officers joined the 1,700 members of the paramilitary forces on Monday the 13th. As Bangalore is the ICT capital of India, a city where almost 500 Fortune-listed companies are present, the Associated Chambers of Commerce of India has calculated the losses in about 250,000 million rupees (about 3,700 million dollars).

Cauvery water dispute supreme court decision

The violence came after the Indian Supreme Court asked Karnataka to discharge 15,000 cubic feet (a little more than 424 cubic meters) per second of water from its reservoirs to Tamil Nadu daily for ten days. This, despite the fact that Karnataka has 36,000 million cubic feet of water in its four reservoirs against 49,000 million cubic feet stored in the two reservoirs of Tamil Nadu. Amid popular protests, the Karnataka government asked the court to reconsider. The court rejected the request but lowered the amount to 12,000 cubic feet (339 cubic meters) per second.

Some have said that television and social media lit the problem even further by spreading rumors, images of violence and hate speech. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of India has asked the channels to refrain from repeating provocative and inflammatory news broadcasts.

Karnataka Government Opinion on Cauvery Water Dispute

Karnataka Government says that due to low rainfall, water levels have decreased in Kaveri and hence they cannot give water to Tamil Nadu state. Against this, the Tamilnadu Government knocked on the Supreme Court. Tamilnadu says that they want water in every situation; otherwise millions of his farmers will be ruined. On the other hand, Karnataka has its own logic. Karnataka government, who is suffering from drought, says that most of the water in Kaveri is being used for drinking in Bangalore and other cities. Water is not saved for irrigation.

At present, the Supreme Court has expressed dissatisfaction with the ongoing protest in Karnataka and the Karnataka Government not to follow its order.

The controversy over water benders is mainly between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, but since some small areas of Kerala and Puducherry are included in the Kaveri basin, they have also jumped in this controversy.

The Supreme Court, churning Karnataka, said that he is not following this decision. The Karnataka government apologized for it and offered to issue water. But taking violent action started there.

But the issue has not been resolved. Karnataka again stopped the water, then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jaya Lalitha reached the Supreme Court in August this year and said that they should be given water according to the tribunal’s instructions. Now the court has asked the Karnataka government to give 12 thousand cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for the next 10 days. Against this, people in Karnataka are on the streets again.

After the dissatisfaction with the Cauvery water dispute, this question is for both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka states that it is appropriate to rely on Kaveri to deal with the water crisis of their respective states. Why did not these two states consider the alternative system? What kind of efforts did these governments take for water conservation, water harvesting?

Solution to overcome Cauvery water dispute – State Level

Instead of fighting on the water of Kaveri, governments of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka could educate every mass for the importance of water drops and water. If everyone could create the campaign for rainwater harvesting and if any campaign was carried out to reach the pond in village-village, then both the states could save themselves from the opposition to the streets and the court’s race. For both states, it is time for self-consciousness to do what will happen on the day when there will be no water in Kaveri! Then what water will fight for?

Suggestion to overcome Cauvery water dispute – Central Level

It is must to solve this Cauvery water dispute because of this there is a lot of damages occurs in 2 states. People of both states are divided because of this dispute. Even the fire of this dispute reaches the capital of the country. So now it is time that the central government should take some decision to solve this dispute. So that people of these state stay with peace. After solving this it is sure that both the state grows in many ways

About the Author: GetintoIAS Team

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