Cauvery Crisis- Hot Water; Hotter Tempers

More than the water-sharing row, it is the politicking over the Cauvery issue that has angered the people of Tamil Nadu

- Lakshmi Subramanian

On April 10, a hot sunny day, Chennai’s Chepauk stadium became a fortress. Yellow barricades, armed policemen and security vans surrounded the venue. The Indian Premier League was in town, and the Chennai Super Kings were to take on the Kolkata Knight Riders. The protestors outside could not care less. They wanted water, not cricket.

On February 16, the Supreme Court had passed an order reducing Tamil Nadu’s share of Cauvery water by 14.75 tmcft. It also asked the Union government to frame a scheme for the implementation of its order, including the setting up of the Cauvery Management Board within six weeks.

The board would be an autonomous body with stakeholders from both states, and would ensure water distribution as per the verdict.

The Centre, however, did not comply, letting the March 29 deadline come and go. Instead, it moved court seeking three more months and asking the court to clarify what “scheme” meant. In its petition, the Centre said that “the CMB may well be taken past the Karnataka assembly elections scheduled on May 12”.

As the ball flew inside the stadium, tempers grew hot outside. The Cauvery waters were curtailed, but the anger was boundless. In fact, the police detained two people for hurling shoes at CSK players during the game. “When there is a threat to Tamils and their rights, we will come together to protest. We had politely requested the governor and the chief minister to ensure that the IPL [matches] in Chennai [be postponed at a time] when the people are in distress because of the Cauvery [issue]. They should have respected our sentiments. But, they did not oblige,” said director P. Bharathiraja. He, along with likeminded people, recently formed a forum for the welfare of Tamil art and literature, which will raise various issues plaguing the state, but without politics.