The ugly incidents in the southern states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in the past few days over Cauvery river waters had been in the coming for quite some time. A warning has been in the air that future wars around the world will be fought on the issue of water.
Initially, not many took serious note of this warning from ecologists and water initiatives. Even the long-drawn fight in the Middle East between Palestinians and the Israelis is largely, though not entirely, a war over water sources for the Israelis.
The fight that has erupted in recent days between Tamils and Kannadigas over sharing of Cauvery waters is the first war over water in this country. This is a bloody battle that has the potential to turn uglier in the days and years ahead.
The villains of the piece in this case are a failed monsoon for the Mandya region of Karnataka that aggravated the farm crisis and the combined, irresponsible reporting of the visual and social media that whipped up anger among the farming community.
The farmers of Mandya region of Karnataka have a serious problem at hand. They have not been able to raise paddy crop for the last two seasons, and sugarcane for the past three seasons. Rains have failed them. According to the ryots, as many as 400 farmers committed suicide last year alone due to crop failure and the consequences arising due to it.
Not the least of them possibly being their inability to repay the loans they have taken from private financiers to raise crops. This season, farmers have been able to raise paddy and sugarcane in only one-third of the fields available for cultivation. This is mainly due to scanty rainfall and very little water.
Farmers now blame the state government, saying it has mismanaged water, and also failed in properly presenting the state’s case before the Supreme Court. As a result, Tamil Nadu, a lower riparian state, managed to get an Apex Court order for release of more Cauvery water to the state from Karnataka.
What is also a fact, as reported, is that the farmers have not heeded the government’s call to change the crop pattern and avoid paddy cultivation this season. Paddy cultivation requires a lot of water, as is well-known. Farmers should have heeded the advice that came from the state agriculture minister.
Blaming the government for all the problems is not going to be of much help. Nor will aggressive actions such as blocking the highways, as mobs did or attempting mass suicides by running into the Cauvery, as some farmers have done for effect will yield tangible results.
The highway blockade resulted in a loss to the exchequer of the order of Rs100 crore in just four days of the agitation, as shown by government projections. Tamil Nadu is facing a perennial problem of water, even for drinking purposes.
This has, to an extent, been mitigated by the Cauvery Water Sharing Tribunal verdict in 2007, that upheld a pre-Independence pact on water sharing, and fixed share of Cauvery waters for TN, as also small shares for Pondicherry and Kerala.
It may be noteworthy that the river basin for Cauvery spans almost double of what exists for it in Karnataka. However, perceptions grew that TN chief minister Jayalalithaa managed to get a favourable verdict from the Apex Court every time the issue went up to it. So was the case this time as well.
Allegedly also due to the “ineptness” of the Karnataka state government. It is also alleged that some visual media channels went out of their way and indulged in objectionable ways of coverage of the issue and the protest. This further whipped up the anger of the farmers. Social media, in its usual style, too, indulged in the same game.
It is fine to condemn the media since that aspect of our democratic society has suddenly become powerful. A modern India has to learn to deal with a vigilant media. On the other hand, it is an established fact that any dispute between two or more states demands direct central intervention.
India is a Union of states, as prescribed in our Constitution. It is not a federation. Therefore, the present Damodardass Modi government should not sit tight and enjoy the burning situation. It is imperative that the Union government step in and sort out this issue.
Prime Minister Modi, most probably, is enjoying the bitter street battles because Karnataka is a Congress ruled state while Tamil Nadu is a regional party ruled state. The inaction on the part of Mr Modi could be due to the reason that the bigger and longer the skirmishes continue, his political gains may increase. This may remind some about Nero espousing his musical talent while Rome was burning.
A similar situation could arise in Orissa, too. Oriyas, unlike the Kannadigas, may not turn violent, yet the possibilities of widespread discontent may not be ruled out completely. While the central government seems disinterested to intervene, Chhattisgarh to the west and Andhra Pradesh to the south seem to be merrily creating dams and barrages on the Mahanadi and Polavaram at their sweet will.
All this supposedly without consulting Orissa government and misleading the central ministry concerned with the matter. In the case of Orissa, however, many rumours seem to be floating that are acceptable to a great degree. It is said that Orissa has never done anything in the water resources management sector from the 1980s till date.
This is absolutely true. Political considerations apart, many are surprised why the Chief Minister himself is holding a critical department like Water Resources. Rumours are rife that senior bureaucrats in that department are far more busy pleasing crony contractors in districts such as Mayurbhanj than bothering about the fate of the common man if the Mahanadi dries up.
It is being whispered that some of these favourite contractors were tapped by industry agents from Chhattisgarh. They acted as middlemen (at considerable expense, obviously) to take care of the Chhattisgarh industries’ needs for water while keeping the Oriya bureaucrats pleased beyond doubt.
All these may be false and completely untrue. But the results we see today are going to be disastrous for Orissa in the not-so-distant future. While fighting with the Chhattisgarh and Andhra governments, the Orissa state government would do well to track down the culprits hiding inside the Secretariat and bring them to book. Allowing them to go scot free will encourage other disturbing elements to get bolder.