CAUVERY WATER IMBROGLIO: IN PURSUIT OF A FORMULA

AFTER a gap of some eight years, the paucity of water in the Cauvery River the lifeline for parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu has returned to haunt the two southern states. It was in 2016 that the two neighbours last saw the much-repeated dispute raising its head again as they faced water shortage.

- The 802-km-long Cauvery takes its birth in Karnataka at Talacauvery in Kodagu (Coorg) district and flows through the southern districts of the state. It enters.

Tamil Nadu from its northwestern part, traverses through vast areas of central TN and finally reaches the Bay of Bengal.

In Karnataka, it is the primary source of drinking water for Bengaluru and many other districts. It also serves the purpose of irrigation.

Five districts in Tamil Nadu, including Thanjavur, the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu, depend almost totally on the river water (apart from the groundwater generated from the catchment areas) to feed the short-term Kuruvai crop. Some dozen districts also depend on the river water for drinking purposes. So, these districts must rely on water released from Karnataka reservoirs as well as the groundwater from both states. Karnataka gets its rainfall from the southwest monsoon (June-September) and very little from the northeast monsoon (October-December), while the entire TN receives rain only from the northeast monsoon. Kuruvai is cultivated from June to September.

The dispute between the two states is 125 years old; the first water-sharing agreement was signed in 1892, followed by another in 1924. The shortage this time, like earlier, has evoked passions on both sides, especially in upper riparian Karnataka, which has seen violence more than once after 1990.