NEW DELHI, July 9: Karnataka is preparing a case to convince the Centre that the constitution of the proposed Cauvery River Authority is not necessary as a mechanism to oversee the implementation of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal's interim order is already in place.Karnataka Irrigation Minister K N Nage Gowda today had a meeting with senior State Government officials and legal experts to finalise the draft of the all-party memorandum to be handed over to the Prime Minister tomorrow.The memorandum is expected to highlight the fact that there was already a gauging station being operated by the Central Water Commission at Biligundlu on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border. This station had been recording the flows from Karnataka into TN's Mettur reservoir. In view of this fact, the constitution of an authority which has proposed some ``drastic measures'' in case of default by Karnataka was unnecessary.The draft notification proposing the constitution of the authority did not take note of the distress situation faced by Karnataka and the seasonal shortfall of water in the implementation of the interim order which specified that a flow of 205 tmc ft of water into Tamil Nadu should be ensured. The all-party delegation led by Chief Minister J H Patel is scheduled to meet legal experts F S Nariman and Anil Divan tomorrow before meeting the Prime Minister. The delegation comprising 75 MPs, state ministers and legislators from all parties will appeal to Gujral to intervene and help the states tide over the situation arising out of the Centre's proposal to set up the authority. Karnataka has rejected the notification outright while TN has welcomed it.The strategy to be employed by the state in the case before the Supreme Court will be discussed with the legal experts.
