Resolve Cauvery water row at the earliest: K'taka ryots

Mandya, Karnataka, Apr 25 (UNI) The Cauvery Hitharakshana Samithi today urged the Centre not to grant further time to the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) to grant the final award in the vexed Cauvery water dispute.

A resolution to this effect was passed at a meeting of the Samithi here, chaired by its President and former MP G Madegowda.

Expressing concern and distress over two members of the CWDT recently recommending constitution of an Expert Committee to assess the crop pattern and water requirements of the four riparian states to enable the Tribunal to render its verdict in the dispute, the meeting said the Centre should reject the order and direct the CWDT to pronounce the final order within the scheduled period.

The members pointed out that even CWDT Chairman Justice M P Singh was shocked over the orders passed by the two members and had openly expressed his disagreement. His separate order was a direct indictment of the order passed by the two members. ''His condemnation couched in polished legal language is itself sufficient to ignore the tentative order of the two members,'' they argued.

The meeting said the four riparian states concerned had been eagerly awaiting the Tribunal's award for the last 16 years and had cited enormous evidences both oral and documentary.

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