From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Feb 11: Do you know Karnataka’s legal cost of fighting the Cauvery dispute in Supreme Court?
Well, the State Government has spent a whopping Rs 7.55 crore towards the advocates’ fee and other court expenses since the year 2007 till date.
In addition, the State Government has been spending Rs 33.99 lakh towards office expenditure for running its Cauvery Water Cell in New Delhi.
Thus, the State Government has spent almost Rs 8 crore on the Cauvery dispute since 2007.
This information was provided by State Water Resources Minister Basavaraj Bommai in the State Legislative Assembly on Monday.
The minister gave the information in reply to an unstarred question by Congress member Ramalinga Reddy.
The State’s advocates’ team led by noted Supreme Court lawyer Fali S Nariman has been appearing on behalf of the State Government in the Supreme Court.
However, the State Government has been facing substantial loss and expenditure towards security in and around the Krishnarajasagar dam and other reservoirs in the State and other districts in the Cauvery basin whenever the State has been having bad monsoons.
The State’s farmers too have been incurring huge losses if the State Government is unable to meet their irrigation requirements through timely release of Cauvery water.
Yet another problem faced by the people is the problems faced by the people of Bangalore, Mysore and Mandya due to non-availability of drinking water from the Cauvery catchment areas.
Incidentally, the Cauvery issue figured prominently in the state assembly and the opposition Congress members mounted a frontal attack against the Jagadish Shettar regime for its failure to handle Cauvery legal issue properly.
Cong, JD(S) Demand Nariman’s Replacement
The opposition Congress members demanded that Fali Nariman must be replaced for not representing the State effectively.
The JD(S) members too joined the Congress members in lambasting the BJP regime and for its decision for releasing Cauvery water even though the State was facing acute shortage due to monsoon failure and was not in a position to meet the drinking water needs of the people of Bangalore, Mysore, Mandya and nearby taluks.
The Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar and Water Resources Minister Jagadish Shettar tried their best to defend the State Government’s decision and said there was no alternative to complying with the apex court’s February 7 directive for releasing 2.44 tmcft of water to Tamil Nadu.
Both Shettar and Bommai contended that Nariman had advised the Government that compliance with the apex court’s directive would strengthen Karnataka’s case and bolster the review petition proposed filed.
They contended that Nariman was an eminent advocate and had been representing the Statte for almost three decades. ''It is not fair to criticize such an eminent lawyer and demand his replacement,” Shettar said.
Which is Important: Drinking Water or Crops?
Opposition Congress leader Siddaramaiah said Karnataka has not received justice from the Supreme Court, which was repeatedly lending more credence to the neighbouring State.
''Karnataka is demanding water to meet the drinking water needs of the people while Tamil Nadu is asking for water for irrigation purposes,” Siddaramaiah said and wondered if drinking water needs of people was more important than saving crops?
The Chief Minister reiterated that the State Government had tried its best to protect the interests of the State.
''I am ready to quit and sacrifice power or even go to jail, if defying the apex court and earning contempt of court strictures were the solutions to solve the prob lem,” he said and reminded the House that the State Government was bound to obey the Supreme Court’s directives.
Both Shettar and Bommai asked the Congress and JD(S) members not to play politics on the Cauvery issue and reminded them that they too had released water in similar situations in the past when they were in power.