Today in Politics: Amid Cauvery row flare-up, CM Stalin turns heat on Siddaramaiah govt, calls all-party meet

On Sunday, Karnataka CM and Congress leader Siddaramaiah had said that his government was ready to release 8,000 cusecs of water from the Cauvery river every day to Tamil Nadu instead of the one TMC ft as directed by the CWRC.

Both the Congress and the DMK are key constituents of the Opposition INDIA alliance at the national level.

In context: Historically, Tamil Nadu used about 602 TMC of the total yield of the Cauvery river. As a result, only about 138 TMC was available for Karnataka until the turn of the 20th century. In 1924, Tamil Nadu built the Mettur dam, and the two states signed an agreement effective for 50 years. The pact allowed Tamil Nadu to expand its agricultural area by 11 lakh acres from the existing 16 lakh acres. Karnataka was authorised to increase its irrigation area from 3 lakh acres to 10 lakh acres.

In 1974, when the accord lapsed, Karnataka claimed that the agreement restricted its ability to develop farming activities along the Cauvery basin. To make up lost ground, it started building reservoirs. This led to a dispute between the two states. The dispute was adjudicated by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) in 2007. The tribunal’s order was challenged by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka at the Supreme Court.

Underlining that “drinking water requirement” has to be placed “on a higher pedestal”, the apex court in 2018 increased Karnataka’s share of the Cauvery waters by 14.75 thousand million cubic feet, raising it from 270 TMC ft awarded by the CWDT in February 2007 to 284.75 TMC ft.

This led to Tamil Nadu getting 404.25 TMC ft, as against 419 TMC ft awarded by the Tribunal. But Tamil Nadu was compensated by being allowed extraction of 10 TMC ft groundwater. The top court also ordered the creation of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and the CWRC to adjudicate disputes between the states within the framework of the final court orders.

SKM to resume farm stir

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella organisation of farmer unions that led the 2020-21 farmers’ protests, have announced that it will resume its agitation over its pending demands, including a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for farmers’ crops and their loan waivers.

The SKM said it will submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi. The SKM also said it will seek their appointments between July 16 and July 18 to meet them.

On whether farmers would march to Delhi again, the SKM leaders said they were focusing on nationwide protests instead.

They also claimed that the BJP faced losses in 159 rural parliamentary constituencies across different states in the recent Lok Sabha polls due to the farmers’ movement.

In other news: All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in charge of Assam, Jitendra Singh, will be in Guwahati as part of a visit to interact with grassroots party workers.

Meanwhile, AICC leaders P L Punia and Rajani Patil will continue their meetings with Himachal Pradesh Congress leaders on Tuesday. The AICC chief, Mallikarjun Kharge, has formed a two-member committee comprising Punia and Patil to look into the circumstances that led to the party being defeated in all four Lok Sabha seats in the hill state.

— With PTI inputs