Adopt firm stand on Cauvery, Congress tells Govt

Bangalore, Apr 3 (UNI) The Opposition Congress today urged the Karnataka Government on the floor of the Legislative Council to take a firm stand against the ''unjust'' final verdict of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.

Participating in a discussion on the verdict, senior Congress member D Maade Gowda alleged that the award had not done justice to the State and urged the State Government to move a resolution to reject it.

He said the Tribunal had delivered its judgement in the absence of a National Water Policy and had not taken note of the ground realities of drought situation in the delta region in Karnataka. The Tribunal had allocated lion's share of the river water to Tamil Nadu, eventhough it contributed less to the river as compared to Karnataka.

Urging the State Government to exert pressure on the Union Government not to notify the verdict, Mr Gowda expressed regret that the CWDT was constituted without taking the Karnataka Government into confidence. Those who were in the forefront of the agitation when the Tribunal had delivered its interim verdict were maintaining silence now, he said.

Congress member V S Ugrappa, who also spoke on the issue, said the people of Karnataka have been meted out a raw deal whenever agreements were made on sharing of Cauvery waters, right from the British period. The Tribunal had not adopted a realistic approach in delivering the final verdict, he charged.

UNI