Well done Mr.Jagdish Shettar

The Karnataka chief minister Mr.Jagdish shettar has ordered release of cauvery water to Tmailnadu giving due respect to the apex court directive. Unlike his predecessor Sadananda Gowda ,Shettar did not play to the gallery and behaved like a statesman .Statesmanship among politicians is of late a rare trait. Sadananda Gowda while in power convened a press meet to inform people of Karnataka not to believe rumours that water has been released from cauvery to Tamilnadu. He also said not a drop of water would be released from cauvery to Tamilnadu.He had a jingoistic agenda.Shettar seems to be a responsible and sensible Chief minister. He wants to protect the rights of Karnataka people also.While releasing water to Tamilnadu ,he is also taking steps to file a review petition in the apex court on behalf of Karnataka. He has also appealed to the people of karnataka that relase of water to Tamilnadu does not construe that the karnataka government is against its own farmers.This is indeed plain speaking from a Chief minister who has a vision and is really interested in the welfare of the nation as a whole.

The argument that karnataka has drought and sever water scarcity is put forth by those who do not want river water sharing between states.Rivers are national resources.It does not belong to the state where the river originates.All the riparian states downstream also has a rightful share of the water. Just as we share water when it is available in plenty,the scarcity should also be shared and no one can claim exclusive rights to usage of water during difficult times.We do not have national leaders with a pan India vision.This has become more pronounced due to the growth of regional parties.Most regional parties play to the gallery and whip up passions of the gullible public. Due to political expediency national parties have also started doing this to match the regional parties to secure their vote bank.Under these circumstances what Mr.Shettar has done is indeed commendable.

Rice is the major food crop of South India .Tamilnadu's Tanjore is a rice bowl.Cultivation in this area is badly afftected due to lack of cauvery water for decades now.Five southern districts of Tamilnadu like Madurai,Theni,Ramnad etc also have lost vast stretches of paddy cultivtion due to restricted or practically nil water supply from Mullaiperiyar in Kerala . This is another water row between Tamilnadu and Kerala . Sandwiched between these two states with rich water resources Tamilnadu farmers are crying hoarse for their share of the water for decades.Ironically Kerala depends on Tamilnadu for its rice and vegetable needs.Politicians in all the states have made it a sensitive issue by whipping up passions and initiating litigations.

Under these conditions Shettar has made a tough decision with great guts and has shown his vision to resolve this tricky issue .Shettar deserves an all round appreciation .As mentioned in one of my earlier posts,if river water sharing disputes are not resolved amicably ,I am afraid this could become a serious issue that could be divisive and not in the interests of the nation.When electricity produced all over the country could be pooled and distibuted nationally through a grid,why not water,which is another scarce resource.

Mullaiperiyar issue

 The issue is blown to the present level by politicians of both the states.The release of the movie 'dam 999' has raised the heat ,with people coming to the streets in Kerala and protester's tempers running high .TN politicians are planning to retaliate by stirs in TN side .Before it snowballs in to a big issue,the politicians on either side  should stop playing to the gallery and resolve, an essentially technical issue on purely technical grounds and not based on parochial agenda. I wrote a post on the effects of screening the dam 999 movie as early as December 1,2009 in my post called Dam 999.As stated in my post then ,the question of the dam withstanding tremors or the increased water level to 152 feet is a technical issue.It should be left to dispassionate experts .Impartial experts can throw light on the safety of the dam and allay the fears of the people living in Kerala.Alternatively if Kerala's fear's of a dam collapse is foreseen  by experts ,the best technical brains in the nation can come together and suggest ways and means to overcome that and come to an amicable solution acceptable to both the sides.

I happened to watch two video's produced by some engineers of TN giving lot of technical inputs that have gone in to the reinforcement of the dam .Both the videos have voice over in Tamil with English subtitles.The video has also traced the brief history that led to the construction of the dam years ago.I am not an expert to comment on the technical aspects shown in the video,but it was very informative .I have given below links to both the videos.Interestingly the second video's concluding part has few suggestions and a way out for the imborglio.

 http://www.vinavu.com/2011/12/01/mullai-periyar-video/

http://www.vinavu.com/2011/12/01/mullai-periyar-video/

In my post  India in retrospect,I mentioned last year "The conflict between states about sharing river waters across state boundaries needs to be resolved without delay.This could very well become a serious issue in the years ahead.The inter state disputes ACT has not helped to resolve these issues.This should not become the cause for political instability and civic discords."

One earnestly hopes better sense would prevail among politicians of TN and Kerala and the issue would be resolved amicably and people of both the states would remain well-disposed to each other for ever.