Water war: CPI condemns Cauvery tribunal order

Chennai, Apr 22: Condemning the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal's (CWDT) order appointing an Expert Committee for determining the water requirement for crops in four riparian states, the Tamil Nadu unit of Communist Party of India (CPI) today called for the removal of the tribunal members for their ''unacceptable and irresponsible'' direction.

The Tribunal's order, passed by a majority of 2:1, would only create confusion and prolong the crisis for many more years, CPI State Secretary D Pandian said in a statement here.

After having wasted 16 years and sifting over 50,000 documents, the two members gave a hasty direction to appoint the experts committee, ignoring the advice of the Tribunal Chairman, he charged.

Stating the Tribunal's direction had outraged the people of Tamil Nadu, he urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene in the matter and find a solution to the problem.

''Taking full responsibility to resolve the crisis, the Centre should introduce a Bill for nationalisation of rivers in the forthcoming Parliament session,'' he said.

Appealing to people in the Cauvery delta region not to get perturbed over the Tribunal's order, Mr Pandian said the CPI would coordinate with other political parties and take steps to assert the state's rights in the sharing of the Cauvery water.

UNI